Bloomberg Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe called on the nation’s lenders to intensify efforts to reduce the cost of payments and increase their speed, including for cross-border transactions. “Slow progress by the major banks imposes a cost on the rest of the industry,” Lowe said in a speech, referring to delays in launching a direct-debit service …

  Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc is in talks to invest about $200 million in Akulaku Inc, an Indonesian online lender backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co, according to people familiar with the matter. MUFG, as Japan’s biggest lender is known, is negotiating the terms of a potential financing for Akulaku as it seeks to expand its presence …

  Bloomberg Luis Esguevillas, a senior equity capital markets (ECM) banker at Citigroup Inc. in Europe, is leaving the bank after almost 20 years. Citigroup announced his departure in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. During his time at the bank, London-based Esguevillas led its ECM business in regions including Iberia, Italy, France and South Africa. Prior to joining …