Banking

  Bloomberg Three of Australia’s largest banks face maximum potential penalties of A$231 million (US$173 million) if they lose civil suits related to alleged rigging of an interest rate benchmark, a fraction of their combined first-half profits of A$10 billion. The Australian securities regulator has filed separate legal actions against Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, National Australia Bank ...

  Bloomberg Tanzania’s central bank should rally to the defense of the shilling using means at its disposal, including stopping ‘dollarization’ of the economy, President John Magufuli said. The currency of the natural gas-producing country has weakened almost 2 percent against the dollar this year, extending depreciation of 19 percent in 2015. Tanzania held US$3.9 billion of gross international reserves ...

  Bloomberg Three weeks ago, Federal Reserve officials sounded like they needed a reason not to hike interest rates soon. Now, they’re in search of a reason to consider any change in policy. “Unless something unexpectedly positive happens, they’re likely on hold for the next couple of meetings,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust Corp in Chicago. Fed ...

  Bloomberg China’s money-market rate jumped by the most in almost three months as injections of funds by the central bank were overwhelmed by quarter-end demand. The 14-day repurchase rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, climbed 13 basis points to 2.92 percent. in Shanghai, the most since March 31, according to National Interbank Funding Center prices. The benchmark seven-day ...

  Bloomberg Entrepreneurs who’ve flocked to London in recent years to upend the financial world with technology are dreading one potential disruption they can’t control: Britain leaving the European Union. A decision to quit the 28-nation bloc in Thursday’s referendum would threaten trade and regulatory benefits that have made London a hub for financial startups, as well as a center ...

  Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest lender by assets, is collaborating with financial technology firm Kabbage Inc to offer loans online to small businesses. The program will be available in Canada starting next month and in Mexico later this year, Atlanta-based Kabbage said that didn’t include terms. Business customers can apply for loans through Scotiabank’s website in the ...

  AP Norway’s consumer watchdog is suing the country’s largest bank, DNB, on behalf of 150,000 customers, claiming it has overcharged them 690 million kroner (US$83 million) in management fees in “falsely active funds.” In one of Norway’s largest class action lawsuits to date, the Norwegian Consumer Council says that from 2010 to 2014 the bank had charged customers six ...

  Bloomberg The surprise departure of Nikesh Arora, heir apparent at SoftBank Group Corp, highlights a problem many Japanese companies face: passing the reins to a successor. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, 58, said he wants to remain at the helm of the company he built from a computer software distributor into one of Japan’s largest telecommunications and investment groups, while ...

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank is about to find out how attractive its offer to pay lenders to lend really is. Starting tomorrow, euro-area banks can bid for a four-year loan from the ECB at an interest rate that begins at zero and could ultimately be negative. The net take-up, after institutions repay their borrowings from an earlier and ...

  AFP France’s biggest insurer Axa has lowered its earnings target for the next few years and is seeking to cut costs as low interest rates take their toll on the industry’s profits. Axa, which is to unveil its new strategic plan Tuesday, said it now eyed an average annual increase in underlying earnings per share of between 3 and ...