February, 2021

• 10 February

  Thai pro-democracy groups pledge to intensify protests

  

  Bloomberg Thai pro-democracy groups have vowed to intensify their protests calling for monarchy reform and a new constitution, a day after a Bangkok court sent four of their leaders into pretrial detention on royal defamation charges. Thousands of demonstrators gathered on Wednesday in central Bangkok for a second day to demand the immediate release of leaders, and to protest the ...

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• 10 February

  Myanmar protesters urge China president not to support junta

  

  Bloomberg Pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar appealed directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping to withdraw his government’s support for the country’s powerful military as mass demonstrations swept cities and towns for a fifth straight day. Outside China’s embassy in Yangon on Wednesday, demonstrators pleaded with Xi to help reverse last week’s military coup, while others held signs reading “we are watching ...

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• 10 February

  Ethiopia to close two refugee camps in Tigray region

  Bloomberg Ethiopia is going ahead with plans to close two camps run by the United Nations’ refugee agency in Tigray region, saying one is too close to the Eritrean border and the other is in an inhabitable location. Hitsats and Shimelba camps were heavily damaged in Ethiopia’s conflict in the northern region and the 20,000 refugees that sheltered there fled ...

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• 10 February

  India plans more than $41bn in sovereign bond purchases

  

  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will seek to buy more than 3 trillion rupees ($41 billion) of sovereign bonds in the next fiscal year to support the government’s borrowing plans, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. That will exceed the 3 trillion rupees the RBI is expected to spend for the current year ending March. ...

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• 10 February

  SocGen to return capital to investors after first losing year in decades

  

  Bloomberg Societe Generale SA vowed to return capital to investors even as it ended its first losing year in more than three decades with a slump in trading. In contrast to double-digit trading gains at Wall Street peers, SocGen saw equities trading — its traditional strength — falls 7% from a year earlier and fixed-income revenue drop 16%. Net income ...

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• 10 February

  ABN Amro scraps 2020 dividend after first annual loss in a decade

  

  Bloomberg ABN Amro Bank NV scrapped its dividend for 2020 and posted its first annual loss in a decade as pandemic weighed on lending income and lender restructured its investment bank. An unexpected profit of about 54 million euros ($65 million) in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to save the Dutch lender from its first negative result since 2010. The ...

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• 10 February

  Citi to refund $4.2mn to overcharged consumers

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. will refund an additional $4.2 million to some credit-card customers who were overcharged years ago. The bank reached an agreement with attorneys general from Pennsylvania, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina to refund the money to customers in those states. The refunds follow a 2018 settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in which Citigroup agreed ...

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• 10 February

  Nordea’s entire $425b wealth unit is going ESG

  Bloomberg The entire wealth and asset management business of Nordea Bank Abp — which currently oversees about $425 billion — may exclude all investments that aren’t deemed sustainable in as little as half a decade. The unit is already “very close” to that goal, and will probably be “100% ESG” in “5 to 10 years,” Frank Vang-Jensen, Nordea’s chief executive, ...

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• 10 February

  Wells Fargo pledges investments in black-owned banks

  

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. made equity investments in six black-owned banks as part of a broader $50 million pledge to support minority-focused lenders. The San Francisco-based bank will assign dedicated teams to provide the lenders with financial, technology or product expertise, it said in a statement. Wells Fargo didn’t disclose the amounts of each investment. The lenders are: Broadway ...

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• 10 February

  Global stocks extend eight-day winning streak; dollar declines

  

  Bloomberg Global stocks pushed forward on an eight-day winning streak on the heels of positive corporate news, improving virus trends and US stimulus plans. The MSCI World Index gained 0.2%, the longest advance since November. French investment bank Natixis SA surged 8% after financial group BPCE SA offered to buy out minority shareholders. Tencent Holdings Ltd. drove strong gains in ...

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