February, 2022

• 4 February

  New Zealand opens borders to finally bring home Kiwis

  

    Bloomberg New Zealand will finally begin reopening to the world at the end of this month as frustration mounts over a border that’s been closed for almost two years to keep out Covid-19. The border will reopen to vaccinated New Zealanders from Australia at midnight on February 27 and from the rest of the world at midnight on March ...

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• 4 February

  Northern Ireland first minister resigns

    Bloomberg Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan quit on Thursday, triggering a political crisis as the UK and the European Union struggle to resolve the region’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. “Today marks the end of what has been the privilege of my lifetime — to serve as the first minister of Northern Ireland,” Givan told reporters in Belfast. Givan’s departure ...

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• 4 February

  Danske slides as cost cuts fall short, dividend raises doubts

  

    Bloomberg Danske Bank falls the most in three months in Copenhagen trading after cost-cutting measures by Denmark’s biggest bank failed to yield the results expected by the market. The shares slid almost 6% before regaining some ground to trade down 3.3% in the Danish capital. The bank’s guidance on costs for this year was worse than expected, Jyske Bank ...

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• 4 February

  BofA extends bank issuance frenzy with $9 billion bond sale

  

    Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) sold $9 billion of bonds, joining Wall Street peers in a flood of new deals at the start of 2022 to beat an expected rise in interest rates. The lender sold bonds in five parts, according to a person familiar with the matter. The longest portion, an 11-year fixed-to-floating-rate security, yields 117 basis ...

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• 4 February

  Mexico central bank to up interest rates this month

    Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank will probably raise the key interest rate this month, and then follow inflation data and US Federal Reserve decisions closely to decide its next moves, Banxico board member Jonathan Heath said. The debate for February’s decision will be whether to increase borrowing costs by a quarter point or half a point, he noted in a ...

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• 4 February

  Monte Paschi to review CEO position at February 7 meet

  

    Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA said it will review the position of its chief executive next week, signalling a response to government pressure to replace him amid talks with the European Union (EU) over the nationalised bank’s future. The bank announced that “an item of corporate governance” concerning Chief Executive Officer Guido Bastianini had been added ...

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• 3 February

  Citi to work with black-owned banks

    Bloomberg Citigroup created a new team inside its trading division that will focus on working more closely with minority depository institutions and diverse broker dealers and asset managers. The firm’s new diverse financial institutions group team will be led by Harold Butler, a senior banker who spent 16 years covering the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System ...

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• 3 February

  Thailand poised to join global rush for virtual banks

  

    Bloomberg Thailand is preparing rules for the setting up of virtual banks, set to join peers including Singapore and Malaysia in promoting financial technology to spur competition and wider access to banking services. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) plans to issue guidelines for digital banks by June and may allow existing lender and new applicants to seek licenses, Assistant Governor ...

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• 3 February

  US futures, Europe stocks decline on earnings shock

  

    Bloomberg The rally in global stocks faltered following disappointing earnings from technology bellwethers and as traders await more clues on how quickly key central banks will tighten the monetary policy. US equity futures dropped, with contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 losing 1.8%, after Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc and streaming service Spotify Technology SA plunged in late trading ...

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• 3 February

  Buffett strikes gold as Japan trading houses see record profits

  

    Bloomberg Warren Buffett’s surprise bet on Japan’s trading houses is paying off as the companies expect a record-breaking rebound in profits. The trading companies, known as “sogo shosha” in Japan, boosted their net income outlook after the rebound in prices of everything from crude oil to iron ore. Buffett shocked the world in 2020 when Berkshire Hathaway Inc announced ...

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