December, 2022

• 20 December

  Zelenskiy visits ‘eastern fortress’

  

  Bloomberg Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to Bakhmut, a city hailed by his deputy defense minister as “our eastern fortress” amid heavy fighting over the past few weeks. As the president handed awards to servicemen, Ukraine’s government said it had reached a deal with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp to get thousands more Starlink antennas to ...

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• 20 December

  Kuroda policy shocker start of BOJ’s risky path towards exit

  

    Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda just gave investors a glimpse of what to expect when the world’s boldest experiment with ultra-loose monetary policy comes to an end. In the face of sustained market pressure, Kuroda shocked markets by saying he’ll now allow Japan’s 10-year bond yields to rise to around 0.5%, double the previous upper limit ...

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• 20 December

  UK fines TSB $59.2m for its IT service disruption

  

    Bloomberg UK regulators have fined TSB Bank Plc £48.7 million ($59.2 million) for risk management and governance failures after technical failures in the lender’s IT system resulted in customers being unable to access banking services. The lender failed to organise and control an April 2018 IT upgrade adequately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority said. ...

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• 20 December

  For European lenders, home is no longer such a bad place to be

  

    Bloomberg For European banks, home is no longer such a bad place to be. Lenders such as Spain’s BBVA that sought to escape Europe’s negative interest rates by expanding in emerging markets are looking at domestic deals again. France’s BNP Paribas SA is planning to reinvest proceeds from the sale of a US unit in Europe as it builds ...

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• 20 December

  Lenders start firm to boost UK cash access on branch closures

    Bloomberg The UK’s largest lenders have set up a company to encourage the spread of shared banking hubs to make sure consumers can still access cash as branch closures accelerate. Nine firms including Barclays Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc have incorporated Cash Access UK Ltd, a non-profit designed to protect cash access, according to a Companies House filing. So ...

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• 20 December

  Credit Suisse near fresh lows over its ‘credibility’

  

    Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG shares are hovering near record lows as some analysts question the lender’s credibility due to a lack of visibility on its ambitious turnaround plan. The stock slipped as much as 3.9% on Tuesday, declining for a seventh straight session, after Citigroup Inc, alongside RBC Capital Markets LLC, flagged future uncertainties. The banks’ sell-side analysts ...

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• 20 December

  UK banks to restart loans on apartments

    Bloomberg Six of the UK’s biggest lenders will start offering mortgages for high-rise flats affected by the cladding scandal in a move that could help thousands of Britons sell their homes. Barclays Bank Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group Plc, and Banco Santander SA will consider new mortgage applications for buildings affected ...

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• 20 December

  World Bank’s IFC divests stake in Yoma Bank

    Bloomberg The World Bank Group’s private-sector arm is divesting its holdings in one of Myanmar’s largest banks nearly two years after a military coup, according to the lender’s largest shareholder. First Myanmar Investment Co has agreed to buy the International Finance Corp’s 4.5% stake in Yoma Bank Ltd, according to Tun Tun, FMI’s executive director and chief operating officer. ...

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• 20 December

  BOJ’s hawkish shift sent shock waves through global markets

  

    Bloomberg The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) unexpected hawkish shift sent shock waves through global markets as the developed world’s last holdout for rock-bottom interest rates inches towards policy normalisation. Japanese government bonds and Treasuries both slumped, while the yen surged after the BOJ raised its cap on benchmark 10-year yields to around 0.5% from 0.25%, surprising every economist surveyed ...

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• 20 December

  Swedish property stocks end brutal 2022 with tough reset ahead

  

    Bloomberg In 2021, a Swedish property company was one of Europe’s top stocks. It’s ending 2022 at the very bottom of the leaderboard, with a 73% slump that underpins a sector-wide reset. The reversal of fortunes for Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB — known as SBB — illustrates the woes of Swedish real estate stocks as they grapple with the ...

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