Banking

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged following July’s surprise cut, as policy makers wait to see if the government will adopt additional stimulus measures in its budget next month. Bank Negara Malaysia kept the overnight policy rate at 3 percent, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday. The decision was predicted by 14 ...

  Bloomberg Poland’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at a record low for a 17th month as economic growth stabilized around 3 percent and deflation stretched into a third year. The 10-member Monetary Policy Council on Wednesday left the seven-day reference rate at 1.5 percent, matching the predictions of all 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Adam ...

  Reuters The chief banking officer of Bank ABC, Ray Ferguson, will step down from his position at the Bahraini lender in early 2017, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Ferguson, hired from Standard Chartered in 2014, had been tasked with helping to formulate and implement a refreshed strategy at the bank which included expanding abroad ...

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank might need to change the rules of the game if it wants to keep playing in the bond market. President Mario Draghi’s 1.7 trillion-euro ($1.9 trillion) asset-purchase program is scheduled to end in just six months, but euro-area inflation is still weak and the full shock of the UK’s Brexit vote could be yet ...

  Bloomberg Singapore has increased inspections of banks’ anti-money-laundering and terrorism- financing controls as it steps up enforcement actions against misconduct in the industry, the head of the central bank said. Financial institutions must promote constant vigilance and set the right moral tone, Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said at an event hosted by ...

  Bloomberg Turkey’s central bank lowered reserve requirements for banks, the third time since July’s attempted coup that the regulator has acted to boost lira and foreign-exchange liquidity. Lira reserve requirement ratios were lowered by 50 basis points, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday. The bank also lowered the amount of foreign-exchange and gold that lenders must keep ...

  Bloomberg The UK state-backed lenders Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc fell in London trading after Deutsche Bank AG analysts cut ratings on their shares on the potential for Brexit to crimp their earnings. RBS fell as much as 3.6 percent after David Lock, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, downgraded the stock to sell ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan’s unprecedented review of its unprecedented monetary policy has stepped up focus on a key group of Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s allies. A trio of top officials in the Monetary Affairs Department, led by Executive Director Masayoshi Amamiya — referred to by some as BOJ — is leading the initiative, according to people familiar with the ...

  Reuters Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, one of the Gulf’s top Islamic banks, said its Pakistani unit would merge with Pakistan’s Burj Bank to create an institution with assets totalling more than $1.1 billion. The merger, which was approved by shareholders of the two banks last month and still needs regulatory approvals, would see Burj Bank holders receive one ...

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc will look beyond Angola’s oil and gas industry to pursue growth and remains committed to the southwest African nation even as a plunge in crude prices batters the economy, according to the U.K. lender’s local partner. The bank was “focused on the oil sector but with changes we’re seeing today in the market an adaptation” ...