Banking

  AFP Will he stay or will he go? That’s the question gripping India as speculation whirls about the future of central bank chief Raghuram Rajan, dubbed ‘rock star’ and ‘James Bond’. Rajan’s three-year term as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor ends in September and the Indian media is abuzz with predictions about whether he will be given a ...

  Bloomberg Brazil antitrust regulators approved Banco Bradesco SA’s acquisition of the local unit of HSBC Holdings Plc, adding a restriction that the buyer refrain from additional purchases for 30 months. Bradesco will also have to improve quality control, invest in worker training and disclose to its clients the local law that allows customers to switch banks, Cade, the antitrust ...

  AP Poland’s lawmakers have approved economist Adam Glapinski to be the nation’s new top banker. Glapinski succeeds Marek Belka, whose six-year term as head of the National Bank of Poland expired. The 66-year-old Glapinski is a member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Council and its board of managers, and is considered to be a moderate. He has vowed to ...

  Bloomberg Here’s a tip to buyout funds that rely on bank debt to buy promising companies. Don’t take those same banks to court unless you’re sure you have a very, very good case. Terra Firma’s Guy Hands clearly thought he had his reasons to haul Citigroup before a London court this week over his 4 billion-pound (US$5.7 billion) 2007 ...

  Bloomberg The European Union will push back the completion of collateral rules for the multi-trillion-dollar swap market to the end of the year, breaking with US authorities who have set a September deadline for the biggest banks to comply. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, won’t be able to meet the deadline adopted by the US — and ...

  Bloomberg Peru kept borrowing costs unchanged after four increases in the past year as slowing inflation and a stronger sol give policy makers room to bolster growth. The central bank board, led by bank President Julio Velarde, held the key rate at 4.25 percent for a fourth consecutive month, matching the forecast of 11 of 12 economists surveyed. One ...

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG may have to raise more capital because of the need to resolve US claims over the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis, Barclays said as it downgraded the two banks. Deutsche Bank may face settlement payments of as much as US$4.5 billion, while Credit Suisse may have to ...

  Bloomberg Even in Asia’s cutthroat world of wealth management, the news of a mass defection at RBS Coutts, venerable bankers to the British royals, came as a shock. Lenders battered by the financial crisis were fighting for Asia veterans who could bring the lucrative accounts of the region’s growing ranks of millionaires, and Coutts rainmaker, Hanspeter Brunner, had jumped ...

  Bloomberg Japanese banks, known for the risk-aversion that spared them the worst of the credit crisis, have quietly grown into some of the world’s largest energy lenders. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, disclosed last month it has become one of the biggest oil and gas lenders with 9.2 trillion yen, or about US$85 billion, in exposure ...

  Bloomberg Since a surprise interest-rate cut at his first meeting as European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi has shown a penchant for pushing the envelope. The bank’s entry into the corporate bond market was no exception: buying bonds with junk ratings. Purchases on the first day included notes from Telecom Italia SpA, according to people familiar with the matter, ...