Banking

  Zurich/ AFP Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, said on Thursday it defied market expectations by posting a profit amid a vast cost cutting programme. Net earnings came in at 41 million Swiss francs (38 million euros, $42 million), a massive decline of 95 percent from the same quarter last year. But the bank still did better than analysts had ...

  Bloomberg After scaling back Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.’s Asian businesses, Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott is now turning his attention closer to home. The country’s third-biggest bank is exploring “a range” of possible options for its Australian wealth business, it said on Thursday as it announced its its lowest full-year earnings since 2011. That may include ...

  LAGOS / AP The African Development Bank (AfDB) is loaning Nigeria $600 million to help offset a budget deficit of $7 billion, a statement said. The bank said another $400 million would be approved next year if the government implements reforms to economize on government costs, combat corruption and promote diversification and competitiveness in Africa’s biggest economy. Nigeria is ...

  Bloomberg While you wait for the next interest-rate increase in the world’s largest economy, policy has quietly tightened in the second-biggest: China. The People’s Bank of China has allowed a steady increase in money market rates in recent weeks to squeeze leverage in the murky shadow banking realm. A side benefit: higher short-term rates cushion a weakening yuan, which ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Standard Chartered’s Islamic division is seeking banking licences in three African countries in order to offer its services to the continent’s large Muslim population. Standard Chartered Saadiq could enter at least one of these markets – Nigeria, Botswana and Zambia – as early as 2017, Mohammad Ali Allawalla, who is head of Islamic banking for retail ...

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s investment banking business is set to have its best year advising on Middle Eastern deals in at least a decade as the firm’s new strategy in the region pays off. The bank is ranked first as an adviser on deals for Middle Eastern and African targets so far this year, according to data compiled by ...

  Frankfurt / AFP The European Central Bank’s easy-money policy has let eurozone governments delay key reforms, a German expert panel said on Wednesday, urging the Frankfurt institution to ease off the massive stimulus spending. “The extent of monetary easing in the euro area is no longer appropriate given the region’s economic recovery,” the German Council of Economic Experts said ...

  London / AFP Almost three quarters of British bankers believe London will still be the financial centre of Europe in five years’ time, despite risks surrounding Brexit, according to a study published Wednesday. US financial services firm Synechron, which carried out the research with the TABB Group, said it questioned 80 capital markets executives in banks based in Britain. ...

  Bloomberg Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Samuel Tsien said surging compliance costs are one factor spurring him to expand his Asian wealth-management business, at a time when some overseas competitors are retreating. That’s because the rapidly expanding costs of complying with anti-money laundering, tax-compliance and other regulatory requirements — rising by 35 percent annually across the whole bank ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s central bank on Tuesday again pushed back the timeline for hitting its inflation goal, the latest policy change that has raised questions about its attempt to revive the deflation-plagued economy. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has for more than three years embarked on a bond-buying stimulus programme to try to keep interest rates ultra-low and ...