March, 2019

• 6 March

  A $1trillion rally’s reward is billions of ETF outflows

  

  Bloomberg European stocks may be off to a roaring start this year, but exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking them aren’t immune to the outflows that hit US equity funds earlier in the quarter. Despite an 11 percent surge for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, ETFs targeting region’s shares have bled more than $4 billion in 2019. Among the biggest losers: benchmark ...

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• 6 March

  Swiss banks an Italian target after record UBS French fine

  

  Bloomberg Italian financial police are demanding Swiss lenders disclose the names of bankers working in Italy, setting up a potential clash with regulators after UBS Group AG was hit with a record fine by French authorities. The Guardia di Finanza has sent a letter to Swiss lenders asking for a list of all their Italian units, data on local relationship ...

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• 6 March

  Indian banks risk adding $25bn bad debt on court move

  

  Bloomberg A year after India’s central bank tightened the screws on companies delaying debt payments, the nation’s Supreme Court is poised to begin hearing arguments on whether the regulator’s diktat applies across industries. Hanging in the balance is the fate of more than $25 billion of loans to power producers. They are among parties contesting the central bank directive that ...

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• 6 March

  Mizuho Group’s surprise $6.1 billion charge shows risks of yield quest

  

  Bloomberg Japanese banks’ quest for yield is creating more turbulence, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. announcing another round of losses on its foreign-bond holdings as part of a surprise writedown that will severely curtail full-year profit. Mizuho slashed its net income forecast by 86 percent on Wednesday after booking 680 billion yen ($6.1 billion) of charges tied to business restructuring ...

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• 6 March

  Deutsche Bank equities unit records huge loss

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG estimates that its equities trading unit lost about $750 million last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The US equities unit hasn’t turned a profit for many years, the people said. The bank at one point considered closing its entire equities operation, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing the matter. ...

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• 6 March

  As US banks shut branches, JPMorgan shifts towards wealthy

  

  Bloomberg Aberdeen, Washington, is a far Northwest outpost of JPMorgan Chase & Co., with one lonely branch perched near the Pacific, 2,900 miles from Wall Street. Now the bank is planning to depart the rainy timber town that gave the world Kurt Cobain. The next-closest Chase branch is 40 miles away. At the same time, JPMorgan plans to open 70 ...

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• 6 March

  US airlines make it easier to redeem frequent-flyer miles

  

  Bloomberg As seats shrink and fees multiply, it’s hard to find value from an airline these days. Except when redeeming frequent-flyer points. The six largest US carriers grew more generous from 2013 to 2018 as they sought to encourage mileage redemption. The average price, in loyalty miles or points, for a domestic rewards ticket declined 13.5 percent over that time, ...

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• 6 March

  JPMorgan wary over GE jet leasing portfolio churn

  

  Bloomberg General Electric Co.’s jet-leasing business, often called the “crown jewel” of its financial arm, drew some fresh criticism from one of the top analysts covering the stock. J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa said the unit has been selling off aircraft and buying new ones in a manner that is leaving it with lesser quality assets, as it tries to ...

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• 6 March

  Outside-the-mall retailers defy industry gloom in Amazon era

  

  Bloomberg The US retail sector is looking just fine for 2019 — as long as it’s not inside a shopping mall. Shares of Target Corp. and Kohl’s Corp. jumped after both retailers gave optimistic profit projections for the current year. The companies, which traditionally occupy big-box locations in strip malls, are showing how to defend market share in the age ...

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• 6 March

  Crew recording on doomed Amazon cargo jet reflects aircraft’s loss of control

  

  Bloomberg Recorded conversations by pilots on a cargo jet carrying packages for Amazon.com Inc. that crashed last month near Houston reveal they began losing control of the aircraft about 18 seconds before it slammed into a shallow bay, investigators said. The communications captured on the cockpit sound recorder were “consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft,” according to ...

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