Bloomberg Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co reported second-quarter profit dropped from a year earlier as persistently low interest rates continued to squeeze lending margins. Citigroup reduced its forecast for net interest margin, the difference between what a bank charges for loans and pays depositors, while Wells Fargo said the UK’s vote to leave the European Union will ...

  Bloomberg A leading US banking regulator wants lenders to do more to manage their exposure to commercial real estate. As property lending accelerates, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — which oversees American banks alongside the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp — is actively monitoring banks’ stress tests and risk-management practices, Comptroller Thomas ...

  Bloomberg South Korea’s won rose to a two-month high after Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju Yeol kept interest rates at a record low and said the government’s stimulus will boost growth by about 0.2 percentage point. Policy makers voted unanimously to leave the seven-day repurchase rate at 1.25 percent, as expected by all 20 economists surveyed. While South ...

  Bloomberg Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte, an arm of Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte, has hired Yeo Hong Ping for a senior management role. Yeo is joining from JPMorgan Chase & Co, where he has worked since 2000, most recently as head of Singapore investment banking, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Yeo will start ...

  Bloomberg Not since 1998 has Russia’s central bank booked a loss, but that may be about to change. The bottomline will suffer because the Bank of Russia is becoming a net borrower from lenders for the first time since 2011 as deficit spending by the government sends rubles cascading through the system, according to VTB Capital and Renaissance Capital. ...

  RELAXNEWS Men’s fashion week in New York kicked off its third season this week with a presentation by Perry Ellis, whose athletic, casual take is expected to mark a number of spring-summer 2017 collections. Dozens of designers from Michael Kors to Tommy Hilfiger presented creations over the course of around 60 catwalk shows and presentations, which conjured a minimalist, ...

  AFP The British Fashion Council (BFC) has unveiled three new non-executive directors to its board. British GQ Editor and London Fashion Week Men’s Chairman Dylan Jones, Founder and CEO of Farfetch José Neves and CEO of the Guardian Media Group David Pemsel have all been welcomed to the council’s board. They join existing board members Chairman Dame Natalie Massenet, ...

  AFP London fashion hotspot Dover Street Market (DSM) has reopened following its seasonal changeover with a host of new spaces and collections. Alongside the new Autumn/Winter 2016 collections, the boutique space now features a punky event space installation by Comme des Garçons that houses some of the label’s most outlandish designs. Additional new spaces include a Daniela Gregis area ...

RELAXNEWS With the bi-annual fashion frenzy that is Haute Couture Week over for another six months, we can reflect on the trends that the Fall 2016 shows brought to the catwalks of Paris. Slashed necklines Couture is by nature a glamorous and attention-seeking affair and wallflowers certainly need not apply for the Fall 2016 season. Across the board necklines were ...

  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business An all-new generation of tech-savvy individuals, who believe in making the most out of technology marvels, is apparently giving a boost to the wearables market in the UAE. Driven by an increased adoption of smart watches, techie wristbands and competitive prices, the country’s wearables industry is certainly enjoying one of the most money-spinning phases ...