Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said the bank had no option but to close an exiled Hong Kong lawmaker’s account as he defended the lender against accusations it had become a tool of Chinese authorities. Facing questions from UK lawmakers, Quinn said HSBC’s decision was driven purely by the need to comply with local laws. “I’m …

Bloomberg ICICI Bank Ltd.’s third-quarter profit rise 19% from a year earlier, boosted by robust loan growth. Net income at India’s second-largest private lender rose to 49.39 billion rupees ($677 million) in the quarter ended December 31 from 41.5 billion rupees a year earlier, it said in a statement. That beat the average estimate of 42.4 billion rupees from 17 …

Bloomberg MoneyLion, a mobile banking, lending and investment platform, is in talks to go public through a merger with Fusion Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company. Fusion, the special purpose acquisition company, has begun discussions to raise new equity from potential investors for a transaction that’s set to value the combined entity at more than $2 billion, said the people, who …

Bloomberg Andrea Orcel is set to step away from tens of million of dollars in deferred pay once he realises his ambition of becoming the chief executive officer of a top European bank. UniCredit SpA will not compensate the former UBS Group AG star executive for deferred payments he will lose for joining a peer within seven years of leaving …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to fund 500 million pounds ($686 million) in UK home loans originated by London-based fintech LendInvest Ltd. The US bank will use LendInvest to finance properties that will be leased, known as buy-to-let loans, according to a statement. LendInvest has loaned more than 3.5 billion pounds online since its inception about a decade ago, …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is urging lenders to do a better job of gauging the risks they face from a potential spike in defaults as the pandemic increasingly hits companies and consumers. The worsening economy has slowed banks’ efforts to reduce existing bad debts and “there is also an embedded level of distress in loan books that is …

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s stock rally is so dependent on mainland capital that the mere suggestion the record inflows will slow has the potential to stir panic in the city’s $7.1 trillion market. Such was the case, when the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) withdrew incremental liquidity and an adviser warned obliquely of asset bubbles. The result was the biggest drop …

Bloomberg If history is a guide, the recent rough ride for Indian stocks will continue after Monday’s budget. The S&P BSE Sensex index has climbed in the month after budget day on only two of the past seven years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, while falling or staying rangebound on other occasions. Risks are compounded in 2021 …

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. (BofA) increased margin requirements to 100% for wealth-management and self-directed brokerage clients to trade certain stocks, as firms impose limits amid wild price swings sparked by investors on social media. The margin requirements apply to Merrill Lynch wealth-management clients and individual traders using the Merrill Edge platform, according to Bank of America. Margins for stock …

Bloomberg The World Bank has committed $12 billion to African countries to support vaccination programs across a continent that hasn’t been able to keep pace with developed nations’ rollouts. The World Bank money will be in the form of grants or on “highly concessional terms,” said David Malpass, president of the World Bank, in a statement following a virtual meeting …