April, 2020

• 6 April

  PBOC adds $56b to Chinese banks to shore up lending

  

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the amount of cash that some banks have to put aside as reserves, injecting liquidity to encourage lending as the world’s second-largest economy is set for the slowest growth since 1976. The required reserve ratio (RRR) for rural banks and small city commercial banks will be lowered 1 percentage point, the PBOC ...

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• 6 April

  Fed slashes pace of QE Treasury buying to $50 billion per day

  

  Bloomberg The Federal Reserve has further dialed back the pace at which it plans to buy Treasuries under its unlimited quantitative easing program. The US central bank, which has been aggressively purchasing Treasuries in a bid to offset the economic and market fallout from the coronavirus pandemic said that it would dial back the daily pace of buying to $50 ...

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• 6 April

  JPMorgan takes full control of mutual fund JV in China

  

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy out its local partner to get full control of a Chinese mutual fund joint venture, taking advantage of the latest move by Beijing to open up the nation’s asset management and securities businesses to foreign firms. The US bank is buying a 49% stake held by Shanghai International Trust Co. to take ...

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• 6 April

  Citigroup reaps $100mn windfall from CLO trade

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. made more than $100 million trading a huge swath of the highest-rated collateralised loan obligations as market turmoil prompted asset managers in need of liquidity to unload securities at steep discounts. Citigroup bought roughly $2 billion of AAA rated CLO bonds in late March at around 90 cents on the dollar from PGIM, the investment management business ...

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• 6 April

  Half a million BofA customers defer payments

  

  Bloomberg Half a million of Bank of America Corp.’s (BofA) 66 million customers have deferred loan payments because of financial fallout from the coronavirus. “The idea is to defer the payment, defer the impact,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said in an interview on CNBC. “We’re working with our customers who need help, who are losing their jobs. We have ...

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• 6 April

  ECB’s increasing stimulus keeps investors hungry

  Bloomberg Euro-area governments are ramping up their bond sales, but there are few signs of investor fatigue with the European Central Bank (ECB) increasing its purchases. Yields from Germany to Italy climbed after debt management offices sold more than 40 billion euros ($43 billion) of bonds, the most in seven years, according to Commerzbank AG. However, investors have stepped up ...

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• 6 April

  Ryanair to lose $325mn from oil insurance trades gone bad

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc predicted a 300 million-euro ($325 million) hit for the fiscal year that just ended because of costs arising from fuel hedges. Before the extra costs, profit for the year ended on March 31 will come in as low as 950 million euros, the bottom end of its previous estimate, the Irish low-cost carrier said. With its ...

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• 6 April

  Mnuchin urged to avoid ‘unreasonable’ terms on US airlines

  

  Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged the Treasury Department to move more quickly to help airlines to save industry jobs and refrain from imposing “unreasonable conditions” that might spur some carriers to decline payroll assistance. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Pelosi and Schumer stressed that provisions of the $2.2 trillion stimulus ...

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• 6 April

  Lessors take back 27 jets from Interjet

  

  Bloomberg Lessors have taken back at least 27 planes from Mexico’s Interjet, according to a company that tracks leased aircraft, making the airline one of the first to lose a big chunk of its fleet as the coronavirus pandemic torpedoes travel demand. The repossessed Airbus SE jets have been flown mainly to Arizona and California, said UK-based aviation consultant IBA ...

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• 6 April

  Wizz Air CEO stands by jet-delivery plan in boost to Airbus

  

  Bloomberg Wizz Air Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said Europe’s third-biggest discount carrier will take delivery of hundreds of new jetliners as planned despite idling 90% of capacity in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Wizz will accept all 15 Airbus SE planes due this year, followed by the rest of its commitment, to position itself for a post-virus ...

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