April, 2019

• 7 April

  Global banks strengthen money laundering controls as fines sting

  

  Bloomberg Stung by a $1.9 billion fine in 2012 for failure to prevent money laundering, HSBC has been trying to get its house in order. It quintupled the number of employees assigned to spot suspicious activity to 5,000, upgraded its technology and, in 2016, hired Jennifer Calvery, the US Treasury Department’s top anti-money-laundering official, to oversee its efforts — the ...

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• 7 April

  RBI likely to slash rates again by June

  

  Bloomberg India’s central bank is on course for its most aggressive monetary policy easing in more than three years, as it seeks to support the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the face of risks both at home and abroad. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) delivered its second successive interest rate cut and said it stands ready to use all ...

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• 7 April

  BB&T, SunTrust cultures put $10b at risk

  

  Bloomberg Cultural risks are the greatest challenge to a successful merger of BB&T Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc., according to Wells Fargo & Co. analyst Mike Mayo. “The ability to manage this and other risks can make an estimated $10 billion difference in the new firm’s market value,” Mayo said in a note to investors. The combined company must work ...

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• 7 April

  Switzerland proposes to tighten bank capital laws

  

  Bloomberg Switzerland is proposing bigger capital cushions for the country’s top banks that could force UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG to set aside an additional 24 billion Swiss francs ($24 billion) in reserves. The Finance Ministry is weighing an amendment to capital adequacy rules to try to ensure that the parent companies of systemically important banks are ...

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• 7 April

  Deutsche Bank defiance prompts rare unity among Merkel centrists, German fringe

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG’s merger talks have prompted rare unity across Germany’s fractious political spectrum: a collective thumbs down. Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic-led bloc to the anti-capitalist Left party and far-right AfD are laying into the plans. With the Social Democratic colleagues of Finance Minister Olaf Scholz also questioning the deal, the project’s main ...

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• 7 April

  Spain caps rent hikes in win for socialists

  Bloomberg The Spanish government won final approval for an emergency decree boosting tenants’ rights at the expense of landlords less than four weeks before a general election. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist administration prevailed 33 votes to 31 at the parliamentary panel that can confirm or revoke legislation when the full plenary is out of session. The measures, negotiated with ...

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• 7 April

  Colorado drillers face tougher rules under energy-law revamp

  

  Bloomberg Colorado’s legislature passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s oil and natural gas laws, giving local governments more power to regulate drilling in one of the nation’s top crude-producing regions. The bill, which passed the state Senate by just three votes amid intense industry opposition, now heads to the desk of Democratic Governor Jared Polis, a longstanding proponent of ...

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• 7 April

  Italy poised to cut economic growth forecast this year

  

  Bloomberg The Italian Treasury is set to slash its growth forecast for this year and raise its projected budget deficit, according to two senior officials with knowledge of the draft outlook. The economy will expand by just 0.1 percent this year, according to the draft, which is due for cabinet approval by April 10, the officials said. The government’s previous ...

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• 7 April

  Canada trade panel calls for ‘safeguard’ steel tariffs cut

  

  Bloomberg A Canadian trade tribunal is recommending that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government claw back steel tariffs imposed to contain fallout from Donald Trump’s own levies. In a decision, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal recommended tariff rate quotas on two types of steel — heavy plate and stainless steel wire — among seven that the government had already applied provisional ...

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• 7 April

  Germany suffers double blow on factory slump, forecast downgrade

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s painful industrial slump shows little sign of ending, with factory orders plunging the most in a decade in February, led by a drop in exports. The bad news from the Economy Ministry was followed just hours later by new forecasts for 2019 that predicted the weakest growth in six years. The country’s five leading research institutes see expansion ...

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