January, 2021

• 13 January

  UK risks China spat with Johnson attack on ‘demented’ medicine

  

  Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson set himself on a collision course with the Chinese government with a thinly veiled attack on traditional medicine, which he said was to blame for the coronavirus pandemic. The practice of using scales from the endangered pangolin to aid virility is “demented,” Johnson said at a meeting of world leaders focused on protecting nature. ...

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• 13 January

  India top court bars Modi from executing farm laws

  

  Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court put on hold the implementation of three controversial farm laws, a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde also formed a panel to facilitate talks with tens of thousands of farmers staging protests on the outskirts of the national capital for nearly two months. ...

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• 13 January

  Bad debt surge threatens India’s financial stability, warns RBI

  

  Bloomberg India’s central bank expects banks’ bad-loan ratios to almost double this year and warned that soaring markets and a weakened economy threaten financial stability. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecasts non-performing assets will rise to 13.5% of total advances by the end of September from 7.5% a year ago, according to its semiannual Financial Stability Report. If the ...

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• 13 January

  StanChart sees India charting course to a tighter budget

  

  Bloomberg India will seek to narrow its budget deficit next financial year, amid expectations of improved revenue collections and economic rebound, according to Standard Chartered Bank Plc. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will likely target fiscal deficit — the gap between income and expenditure — at 5.3% of gross domestic product in the budget for the year starting April 1, the ...

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• 13 January

  UBS to lower threshold for customer deposits

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG plans to lower the threshold for customer deposits that will be subject to a charge as the bank deals with the prospect of low and negative interest rates for the foreseeable future. Starting in July, the fee will apply to clients with deposits of more than 250,000 francs ($280,000) or the same amount in euros, according ...

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• 13 January

  Former BofA tech banker joins Jungle Ventures

  

  Bloomberg Sandeep Uberoi, the former head of technology, media and telecom for Southeast Asia at Bank of America (BofA) Merrill Lynch, has joined Jungle Ventures as a strategic adviser. He will lead strategy and corporate development at the Singapore-based venture capital firm and overseee its portfolio companies across Southeast Asia and India, Uberoi said. His focus will include fundraising, partnerships ...

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• 13 January

  HSBC shareholders ask bank to cut fossil-fuel lending exposure

  

  Bloomberg A group of HSBC Holdings Plc shareholders filed a resolution urging the bank to cut its support to the fossil-fuel industry. Amundi SA, Europe’s largest listed asset manager, and Man Group Plc, the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund firm, were among 15 institutional investors overseeing a combined $2.4 trillion that are backing the move, according to a statement ...

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• 13 January

  China plans to let banks sell soured personal loans to ease risks

  

  Bloomberg China plans to allow some commercial banks to start selling soured personal loans to distressed asset managers as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the matter. At a meeting by the official credit assets transfer center, banks and state-run bad-loan managers were asked to accelerate preparations to ensure a smooth start of the trial program in ...

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• 13 January

  China stocks climb most since October to touch 13 year high

  

  Bloomberg The priciest equities in more than five years are proving no deterrent for stock traders in China, where the benchmark is now nearing its all-time high. The CSI 300 Index rises 2.9% on Tuesday to close at a 13-year high, taking this month’s gain to 7.4% — its best-ever start to a year. Shares of brokerages rallied, an indicator ...

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• 13 January

  Stocks turn mixed; Treasury yields climb

  

  Bloomberg US stocks were mixed and benchmark Treasury 10-year note yields rise to a 10-month high as investors mulled the prospects of the economic recovery and vaccine rollout. The S&P 500 was little changed, with the energy and consumer discretionary sectors gaining, while utilities and communication services were the biggest decliners. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index traded little changed. The dollar ...

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