Bloomberg Australia’s central bank joined the government in warning lenders not to be too strict when assessing borrowers, fearing such caution could dent an already slowing economy. “It is important that banks are not overly cautious in the implementation of current lending policies,” the Reserve Bank of Australia said in its Financial Stability Review. “Lending always entails a degree of …

Bloomberg Between 2009 and 2015, Mihhail Murnikov spent his days handling as many transactions as he could at the non-resident unit of Danske Bank in Estonia. Roughly a year after Danske admitted that those transactions were part of a $220 billion money laundering scandal, prosecutors from Tallinn to Washington are still trying to get to the bottom of what really …

Bloomberg Oswald Gruebel, who led both of Switzerland’s two biggest banks during his career, criticised negative interest rates and argued they’d lead to a further decline of the country’s financial sector. “Negative interest rates are crazy. That means money is not worth anything anymore,” Gruebel said in an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. “As long as we have …

Bloomberg Ashish Shah is caught in the middle of India’s latest financial crisis. As chief operating officer of Radius Developers, he’s struggling to fund construction of apartment complexes because of a liquidity crunch in the nation’s bloated shadow-banking sector. “Real estate is a sitting duck,” said Shah. “The timing is very crucial as the slowdown has hit the real estate …

Bloomberg Some of the highest valuations in years can’t keep exchange-traded fund investors from hunkering down in the safest pockets of the US equity market. As the S&P 500 Index began October with its third week of losses, utilities ETFs took in $726 million, the most of any industry, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Investors had already piled into defensive …

Bloomberg The franc is trading near a two-week low versus the euro on Swiss data weakness, with both positioning and charts signaling more short-term pain. Yet, losses may be limited as the currency’s haven appeal should eventually prevail amid the deepening global economic gloom. The franc has pared its year-to-date advance to about 3% on expectations the Swiss National Bank …

Bloomberg India plans to allow foreign-exchange settled rupee derivatives trading in specially designated centers as it tries to deepen the local market. The non-deliverable forwards will be traded on the International Financial Services Centres, the Reserve Bank of India said. GIFT City in Indian state of Gujarat is currently the only operational venue. Trading in the onshore market has been …

Bloomberg Ethiopian Airlines Group would consider buying a stake in South African Airways (SAA) — should South Africa decide to sell equity in the struggling state carrier. SAA hasn’t made a profit since 2011 and delayed the release of annual earnings due to its precarious financial state. While the ruling African National Congress has frequently said that it would consider …

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc could develop more business with hotel chains after the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook Group Plc, the low-cost airline’s chief executive officer said in an interview to Die Welt. The airline has begun to expand its package tour business and was over the summer able to take advantage of its relationship with hotel chains already concerned …

Bloomberg Costco Wholesale Corp reported quarterly profit that fell short of estimates, and US sales, while still brisk, also slightly missed. The company’s shares fell in late trading. Same-store US sales excluding gas rose 5.2% in the quarter, falling just short of analysts’ projections compiled by Consensus Metrix. Earnings per share were $2.47, below the average estimate of $2.54. Costco …