September, 2021

• 1 September

  Serbia is now less enthusiastic about joining EU: Vucic

  

  Bloomberg Serbia is becoming less enthusiastic about the process of joining the European Union as the procedure drags on and its citizens don’t see progress, President Aleksandar Vucic said. Vucic, Serbia’s most powerful politician since the nation started accession talks in 2014, has repeatedly complained that EU leaders haven’t given his country and five other Balkan membership aspirants a timetable ...

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• 1 September

  Malaysia examines need for booster shots as coronavirus spreads fast

  

  Bloomberg Malaysia is studying if it’s necessary to give booster Covid-19 vaccine shots, as the country grapples with the fast-spreading delta variant. An expert committee has been set up to assess the need for a third shot and is expected to give its recommendation by month-end, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. The priority now is to focus on people who haven’t ...

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• 1 September

  Front-runner for Swedish PM job rejects ‘plea’

  Bloomberg Sweden’s finance minister Magdalena Andersson, the favourite to replace outgoing premier Stefan Lofven, has rebuffed a plan to increase spending from the left wing of her party. The faction within the Social Democrats called for a new fiscal policy framework, saying the current rules are “a straitjacket” that hurts the economy by blocking investments. But in an interview with ...

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• 1 September

  BOJ stimulus to roll on whoever wins Japan elections: Momma

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will keep pumping out stimulus regardless of any shift in the nation’s political leadership as a result of upcoming elections or any Federal Reserve tapering moves, according to a former senior executive at the central bank. “You want to keep letting sleeping dogs lie,” said Kazuo Momma in an interview, referring to the monetary ...

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• 1 September

  Morgan Stanley boosts junior banker salaries

  

  Bloomberg Morgan Stanley boosted salaries for the second time in a month, raising the stakes again in a Wall Street bidding war for new talent. The firm bumped base pay for junior bankers to $110,000, a mark that will now also cover first-year staff in the trading division, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified ...

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• 1 September

  Nigeria central bank to launch digital currency

  Bloomberg Nigeria’s central bank selected Bitt Inc. as a technical partner to help create its digital currency by the end of the year. The Barbados-registered financial technology company will help the regulator to launch the new currency, named eNaira, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said in an emailed statement. The company was picked for its “technological competence, efficiency, platform security, ...

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• 1 September

  Rupee’s gains have traders speculating RBI easing grip

  

  Bloomberg The Indian rupee’s outsized gains over the last three sessions is spurring talk that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may have loosened its grip over the currency. The rupee has rallied 1.6% in the previous three sessions to post its biggest gain for the period since March 2 The exchange rate had been moving within a range of ...

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• 1 September

  Italy may take on extra branches in Paschi deal

  

  Bloomberg Italian public financial institutions may end up purchasing some assets of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA that UniCredit SpA doesn’t want in a takeover of the bankrupt lender. State lender Mediocredito Centrale SpA and state-owned asset manager AMCO SpA were given to access to Monte Paschi’s data room, according to a statement. The Italian Treasury may be ...

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• 1 September

  Zambia keeps interest rate unchanged

  Bloomberg Zambia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, with inflation seen decelerating faster than earlier expected. The monetary policy committee held the rate at 8.5%, Governor Christopher Mvunga told reporters on Wednesday in Lusaka, the capital. This was the MPC’s first rate decision under a new government following elections last month. The decision to hold was supported by ...

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• 1 September

  Wells Fargo risks regulatory action over pace of restitution

  

  Bloomberg Five years into scandals that have already cost Wells Fargo & Co more than $5 billion in fines and legal settlements, regulators are privately signaling they’re still not satisfied with the bank’s progress in compensating victims and shoring up controls. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have warned the firm they ...

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