August, 2021

• 2 August

  South Korea-US drills will hurt ties, says Kim’s sister

  Bloomberg The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said planned joint military exercises between South Korea and the US will “cloud” inter-Korean relations, Yonhap News Agency reported. North Korea will “closely watch” if South Korea goes ahead with the drills, report said, citing a statement from Kim Yo Jong via the Korean Central News Agency. Kim Jong-un and South ...

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• 2 August

  Deutsche Bank struggles with slew of departures in US wealth

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG has lost a string of US-based wealth management executives over the past year, as Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing struggles to expand in the lucrative business of managing rich people’s money while keeping a lid on expenses. At least 10 senior bankers and numerous junior employees across the world’s largest wealth management market have left, according ...

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• 2 August

  NatWest reversing more loan provisions, plans buyback in Q2

  

  Bloomberg NatWest Group Plc is reversing more of the provisions it took early in the Covid-19 pandemic as the British economy rebounds, helping it beat earnings forecasts in the second quarter and return cash to shareholders. The UK’s biggest corporate lender posted an operating profit before tax of 1.6 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) in the second quarter, compared to a ...

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• 2 August

  Monte Paschi is Europe’s worst lender as UniCredit deal looms

  

  Bloomberg A day after UniCredit Spa announced talks to buy it, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA was the worst performer in European regulators’ stress tests and the only one to have a key measure of capital wiped out. That’s creating questions over the mechanics of a deal engineered by UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel and the Italian ...

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• 2 August

  Lloyds raises outlook on improving UK recovery

  

  Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc beat forecasts in the second quarter and lifted its guidance for the year as it released further provisions it had set aside for loans going bad during the pandemic. Pretax profit of 2 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) came in ahead of analyst expectations for 1.4 billion pounds, according to a consensus compiledby Bloomberg, and compares ...

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• 2 August

  JPMorgan names Ben Walter head of banking unit

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co tapped Hiscox Ltd’s Ben Walter to lead the firm’s business-banking division, succeeding Jennifer Roberts, who was named head of consumer banking earlier this year. Walter, 47, will join the biggest US bank in October as chief executive officer of the unit, which provides services to small businesses with as much as $20 million in annual ...

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• 2 August

  BNP profit beats as CEO Bonnafe sees rebound in equities

  

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA got a boost from lower provisions for bad loans and a rebound in equities trading last quarter, as Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe builds up the trading business. Revenue from the stocks unit more than doubled from a year earlier, helping drive a 27% jump in overall profit that topped analysts’ estimates. Still, the Paris-based lender ...

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• 1 August

  Big rethink ahead for Chinese stocks listed in US after July

  

  Bloomberg It’s been a hellish month for China-based companies listed in the US. A clampdown by Beijing authorities led to the worst selloff since the financial crisis, prompting a broad reassessment for a burgeoning corner of the world’s largest stock market. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index — which tracks 98 of China’s biggest firms listed in the US — ...

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• 1 August

  Senators eye taxes on cryptocurrency to fund infrastructure plan

  

  Bloomberg The Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure deal envisions imposing stricter rules on cryptocurrency investors to collect more taxes to fund a portion of the $550 billion investment into transportation and power systems. The provisions would raise an additional $28 billion from cryptocurrency transactions, according to a summary of the plan. The proposal would impose more rules on crypto brokers to report ...

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• 1 August

  UAE’s $110m relief aid helps Socotra overcome challenges

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The development and relief aid provided by the UAE to Socotra Governorate since 2015 enabled the Archipelago to overcome its many challenges and dire humanitarian conditions and helped local authorities to improve life and livelihood of Soqotri people. The aid provided to the island from 2015 to 2021 amounted to $110 million, according to official reports, ...

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