The Hague /Â AFP Dutch bank ING, the country’s biggest lender, said on Wednesday that its second-quarter operating profits rose by more than a quarter as it boosted lending. Underlying net profit, which strips out one-off items, rose by 26.7 percent to 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion). Net profit more than quadrupled to 1.3 billion euros, but the huge increase ...
Read More »Banking
UK banks face $2 billion in extra PPI costs after delay
London / Bloomberg Three of the UK’s biggest banks face extra charges of about 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) after the Financial Conduct Authority said it will probably delay a deadline on payment protection insurance complaints by a year, according to Citigroup Inc. Lloyds Banking Group Plc may have to set aside an additional 750 million pounds to cover ...
Read More »RBA cuts rates to record low
Sydney / Bloomberg Australia’s central bank cut interest rates to a fresh record low as it moves to counter disinflation and support a labour market hampered by high levels of part-time work and underemployment. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens and his board lowered the cash rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent on Tuesday, as predicted ...
Read More »Shares in troubled Italian bank rise on rescue deal
MILAN / AP Shares in troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena rose as a capital infusion means the bank won’t be nationalized. But the shares of other Italian banks fell as investors focused on the scale of their mountain of bad loans. Monte dei Paschi was by far the worst performer in stress tests of 51 European ...
Read More »Commerzbank warns of falling profits
Frankfurt / Bloomberg Germany’s second largest bank Commerzbank warned on Tuesday that its profits in 2016 would be lower than the previous year. “The interest rate environment and persistent customer caution in view of the geopolitical uncertainties will continue to weigh on income despite growth,†the bank said in its second-quarter report. Commerzbank has also been forced to set ...
Read More »India eases rules for new bank permits
New Delhi / Bloomberg India eased rules to allow applicants to seek permits for setting up banks on a continuous basis, replacing a system that created long delays between approvals. According to the rules — posted on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) website Monday — professionals with senior-level banking experience of at least 10 years can apply for a ...
Read More »Poland opts to go slow on Swiss-loan fix
Poland / Bloomberg Polish banks jumped on a newspaper report that President Andrzej Duda will tone down his proposal to help the country’s Swiss-franc-denominated mortgage takers and won’t force lenders to convert $36 billion in home loans into zloty. Fixing the issue of foreign-currency loans, mainly in Swiss francs, has hung over Polish lenders for more than a year, ...
Read More »Carney nears rate cut after BOE detour on ‘stimulus road’
Bloomberg The Bank of England is mere days away from its first interest-rate cut in more than seven years. It wasn’t easy getting here. After shocking traders by leaving the key rate on hold last month, Governor Mark Carney and the Monetary Policy Committee signaled that loosening would probably come this month. But with five sets of public comments ...
Read More »ECB accused of favouritism over Brussels appointment
Bloomberg The European Central Bank Executive Board received a complaint from the institution’s staff council last month, alleging that the appointment of its new Brussels representative looks like an act of favoritism. Employee representatives penned their letter after Stephane Rottier was chosen to lead the ECB’s office in the city that hosts most European Union institutions. The position was ...
Read More »Nedbank heads for 8-month high on profit increase
Bloomberg Nedbank Group Ltd., the South African lender controlled by Old Mutual Plc, headed for the highest level in eight months after first-half profit rose, beating analyst estimates that had predicted a decline. The shares jumped as much as 7.5 percent on Monday before paring gains, leading returns on the seven-member FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index. First-half earnings per share ...
Read More »