October, 2021

• 25 October

  UK says Northern Ireland solutions needed urgently ahead of EU talks

  

  Bloomberg The UK government said negotiations with the European Union over the Northern Ireland Protocol need solutions “urgently” ahead of new talks aimed at closing key disagreements between the parties. A team from the EU Commission will travel to London, after which Brexit Minister David Frost and the Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic are due to meet and take stock of ...

  Read More »
• 25 October

  Mexico’s migrant caravan pushes past security forces

  

  Bloomberg A caravan of migrants pushed past Mexican security forces near the city of Tapachula in Southern Chiapas state, as the group continued its route north toward the country’s capital. The group of several thousand people, including women and children, pushed past national guard clad in riot gear that had attempted to block the group’s passage, footage from local news ...

  Read More »
• 25 October

  Obama attacks GOP candidate’s ‘phony culture wars’ in Virginia

  

  Bloomberg Former President Barack Obama waded into Virgina’s gubernatorial race, criticising Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin for supporting “phony, trumped-up culture wars” in his bid to flip the state. Speaking at a rally in Richmond for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, Obama said Youngkin was seeking to win by signalling support for baseless claims about fraud in the 2020 election that led to ...

  Read More »
• 25 October

  Citi becomes first Wall Street bank to agree to racial audit

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc became the first Wall Street bank to agree to do a deep dive into its business to see if, and how, it contributes to racial discrimination. The audit will be conducted by attorneys at Covington & Burling LLP, Citigroup said on its website. The bank said the audit will focus on its 2020 commitment to dedicate $1 ...

  Read More »
• 25 October

  Russia warns more hikes may be coming

  

  Bloomberg Bank of Russia may have stunned bond and currency markets with the size of its rate hike, but entrenched inflation means traders shouldn’t assume the hawks are done. “It’s too early to say the tightening cycle is over,” Governor Elvira Nabiullina told a press conference after lifting the main rate 75 basis points to 7.5%, the sixth straight hike ...

  Read More »
• 24 October

  ICICI Bank posts record profit boosted by strong loan growth

  

  Bloomberg ICICI Bank Ltd.’s net income rose about 30% in the second quarter to a record, led by strong loan growth as consumer demand improved after a drop in the number of coronavirus cases. Net income at the country’s second-largest private lender stood at the highest-ever 55.1 billion rupees ($735 million) in the quarter-ended September, compared with 42.5 billion rupees ...

  Read More »
• 24 October

  Nigeria’s central bank to launch digital currency

  Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will launch a digital currency on Monday aimed at improving the payments system in the West African nation, according to the central bank. The eNaira, which took several years to develop, will “make financial transactions easier and seamless for every strata of the society,” the Central Bank of Nigeria said in emailed statement. The digital ...

  Read More »
• 24 October

  UniCredit-Italy talks over Monte dei Paschi deal fail

  

  Bloomberg Talks between the Italian government and UniCredit SpA over the sale of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA have collapsed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s efforts to end the bank’s troubles. The Treasury and UniCredit ended negotiations after being unable to overcome stumbling blocks related to a capital injection in Monte Paschi and the businesses ...

  Read More »
• 24 October

  Goldman lobbies UK to relax capital ring-fencing rules

  

  Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. called on the UK to relax capital rules for retail banking introduced in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the Mail on Sunday reported. The UK currently requires big banks with deposits of 25 billion pounds ($34 billion) or more to ring-fence the retail operations, meaning the banks can’t use the funds in the ...

  Read More »
• 24 October

  UK banks under pressure to start raising mortgage prices

  

  Bloomberg A new era for UK mortgage market is approaching as the Bank of England (BOE) prepares to raise interest rates, and markets are already shifting rapidly. Sterling swap rates, used by banks to set the cost of home loans, have jumped in recent weeks, converging with mortgage prices and squeezing the margin for lenders. That doesn’t look sustainable, and ...

  Read More »