Bloomberg The Bank of Korea (BOK) is facing mounting pressure to broaden its mandate for the first time in nearly a decade as global central banks are asked to tackle a wider range of economic issues highlighted by the pandemic. More than a dozen South Korean lawmakers are pushing for the passage of a bill to add employment stability to …

Bloomberg State Bank of India (SBI) will accelerate retail loans and expects most lenders to post stronger-than-anticipated earnings as the economy revives faster than expected, according to Chairman Dinesh Khara. “The banks were expecting worse, so they strengthened risk management significantly,” Khara, who took charge as head of the country’s largest lender in October, said in an interview with Bloomberg …

Bloomberg UBS Group AG Chairman Axel Weber said that the bank doesn’t expect to combine any time soon with Credit Suisse Group AG because of recent executive changes at the two lenders and the time needed to undertake such a complex transaction. His comments follow an interview by Credit Suisse departing chairman, Urs Rohner at the weekend, who gave the …

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA expects to cut annual costs by about 450 million euros ($545 million) by combining its French retail operations with its Credit du Nord subsidiary, as Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea seeks to bolster profitability. The number of branches in the merged division will fall by about 600 to 1,500 by 2025, the bank said in a …

Bloomberg The fortunes of India’s shadow lenders have been improving amid early signs Asia’s third-largest economy is rebounding from an unprecedented recession. Two of four indicators compiled by Bloomberg that reflect the state of shadow banks strengthened last month from October. Shares of such firms that are part of the benchmark S&P BSE 500 index jumped two levels higher. The …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has taken over as the biggest owner of the nation’s stocks, with the total value of its holdings climbing well above $400 billion. Massive exchange-traded fund purchases by the BOJ to support the market amid the pandemic this year combined with subsequent valuation gains pushed its Japanese equity portfolio to 45.1 trillion yen ($434 …

Bloomberg Global stocks retreated from an all-time high and the pound weakened the most in three months on concern that Brexit talks could collapse. The pound slid 1.3% against the dollar with officials on both sides pessimistic about the prospect of a breakthrough. Banks and retailers led losses in the Stoxx 600 Index, while the export-heavy FTSE 100 Index climbed …

Bloomberg Hong Kong stocks dropped, with investors selling some of the quarter’s top performers on concern more firms may be kicked out of global equity benchmarks and that Chinese banks may be targeted as China-US tensions grow. The Hang Seng Index retreated as much as 2.2% before paring to end Monday 1.2% lower, with volume 42% higher than the three-month …

Bloomberg Iraq will remain committed to Opec’s decisions on oil output as it nudges crude exports higher in December. The country will export 2.8 million barrels a day this month, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said Sunday, up from 2.7 million in November. It will start shipping a new medium grade of its flagship Basrah crude in January and try …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Menilbekov Madiyar, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UAE, highlighted the strong bilateral ties between the UAE and his country, noting that the UAE is Kazakhstan’s leading strategic, trade and economic partner in the Arab region, most notably in the petrochemical, energy, transport, logistical services, agriculture and space sectors. In an interview with Emirates News Agency on …