Banking

Standard Bank Group Ltd. is open to acquisitions in Nigeria and Kenya as Africa’s biggest lender by assets expands its presence in key markets on the continent. The lender is also keen to bolster its businesses in Ethiopia — where it has a representative office — and its home-market South Africa, Standard Bank Chief Executive Officer Sim Tshabalala said. In ...

RHB Bank Bhd. plans to introduce its digital banking platform as early as the second half of next year, its top executive said, as Malaysia’s fifth biggest lender looks to hold back a tide of fintech startups. The bank and its partner Boost, an arm of communications giant Axiata Group Bhd., could invest as much as 1 billion ringgit ($212 ...

Japan spent a record 6.3 trillion yen ($42.4 billion) in October to counter the yen’s sharp slide against the dollar, as it tried to limit speculative moves adding to pressure on the currency. The finance ministry disclosed on Monday data for the period between September 29 to October 27. Central bank figures and market estimates of money flows with the ...

Some of the UK’s biggest high street banks are bracing themselves for trouble. Barclays Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and NatWest Group Plc have together put aside nearly £1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) to cover bad loans, earning reports this week showed. HSBC Holdings Plc, which makes most of its money in Asia, also set aside $200 million “in respect of ...

Colombia’s central bank ignored complaints from President Gustavo Petro and raised interest rates to the highest level in more than two decades, while also deciding against intervention in the currency market. The bank lifted its benchmark rate by one percentage point to 11%, after the peso plunged and foreign investors dumped the nation’s bonds. The unanimous decision, which was in ...

Trading in the global foreign-exchange market jumped to an all-time high amid heightened volatility, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Average daily transactions in April increased to $7.5 trillion, up 14% from the same month in 2019, the BIS said in its triennial survey. That compares with a growth rate of 30% in 2019 and a contraction of ...

Bank of Nova Scotia’s capital-markets unit is cutting some jobs in Asia and offering other staff members retention and relocation packages as the bank narrows its focus on regions closer to home. The move is part of the bank’s push to concentrate on North and South America, and its global banking and markets division in the Asia-Pacific region will focus ...

Nigeria’s central bank will replace high-value currency notes starting December 15 in a bid to mop up excess cash, rein in inflation and target rising insecurity in Africa’s largest economy. The country’s banking regulator plans to issue redesigned 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at a briefing in Abuja, the capital. The old notes ...

The yuan leaped over the Australian, Canadian and Swiss currencies to become the fifth most traded currency in the world, according to the Bank for International Settlements’ Triennial Central Bank Survey. The Chinese currency was involved in 7% of all trades in 2022, compared with 4% three years ago, Basel-based BIS said in a report. Meanwhile, total daily trades rise ...

Lloyds Banking Group Plc missed estimates in the third quarter after the lender took charges for bad loans as it warned of a darkening outlook for the UK economy. Pretax profit falls more than expected to £1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) after the bank took its biggest charge since the Covid-19 pandemic to cover loans that could default. The £668 million ...