May, 2017

• 28 May

  Europe has no bubbles to fear – for now

  Talk to critics of the European Central Bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy and a common theme emerges: concern about financial stability. Quantitative easing is seen as creating dangerous asset bubbles. Negative interest rates are said to hurt bank profitability, making the financial system more vulnerable to shocks. These concerns are widely misplaced. In fact, the real worry should be the risks ...

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• 28 May

  For Europe, infrastructure is the wrong priority

  

  For the past two decades, the EU has grappled with a productivity slowdown that has kept wages and economic growth in check. Politicians are increasingly mentioning infrastructure as a possible solution: The hope is that building more roads and better bridges can help companies improve efficiency and re-start growth. However, while infrastructure may indeed provide a much-needed stimulus to Europe’s ...

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• 28 May

  For China now, only question is size of bill

  

  Moody’s Corp. downgraded China’s sovereign credit rating for the first time in 28 years. In doing so, the rating agency is acknowledging the dragon in the room: China will have to pay the price for its epic debt binge, whatever policymakers do from here. The burning question in China these days is whether the government is serious about tackling the ...

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• 28 May

  The US intelligence ship is too leaky to sail

  

  UK police investigating the Manchester terror attack say they have stopped sharing information with the US after a series of leaks. Since the beginning of this century, the US intelligence services and their clients have acted as if they wanted the world to know they couldn’t guarantee the confidentiality of any information that falls into their hands. At this point, ...

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• 28 May

  Short sellers resist covering as S&P 500 climbs

  

  Bloomberg It usually doesn’t work this way: stocks vaulting to records, and bearish traders getting more aggressive. Lately, it has. The S&P 500 Index has climbed 7.9 percent since January, including its biggest gain since April in the just-completed week. At the same time, short interest as a proportion of total shares outstanding has also expanded, rising by 0.3 percentage ...

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• 28 May

  Mashreq first bank in Mideast to join SWIFT gpi

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business SWIFT announces on Sunday that Mashreq Bank has signed up for its global payments innovation (gpi) service, to become the first bank in the Middle East to join this international initiative. The bank will be joining forces with 100 leading banks globally. SWIFT gpi dramatically improves the customer experience in cross-border payments by increasing the speed, ...

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• 28 May

  Noor Bank takes part in Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East 2017

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business Noor Bank, a leading Shari’a-compliant bank in the UAE, announced that it joined the region’s prominent financial, legal and insurance institutions as a Gold Sponsor at the latest edition of the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East conference. Organised by GFC Media Group, the region’s largest finance and investment conference convenes high-profile issuers, investors, bankers, legal ...

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• 28 May

  Wells Fargo to increase broker sign-on bonuses

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. will pay bigger sign-on bonuses to some new brokers as competitors including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. seek to reduce recruitment inducements. The Wells Fargo Advisors unit plans to offer better pay packages to brokers who oversee the largest books of business as it seeks to woo more big producers, reports said. The ...

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• 28 May

  South African Reserve Bank keeps interest rates unchanged

  

  Bloomberg The South African Reserve Bank left its key rate unchanged for a seventh straight meeting as policy makers warned politics and ratings downgrades could still knock the rand and scupper an improving inflation outlook. The Monetary Policy Committee maintained the benchmark repurchase rate at 7 percent, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters in the capital, Pretoria. The decision was in ...

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• 28 May

  Former CIMB banker admits insider trades in Singapore takeovers

  

  Bloomberg Alan Tay Yeow Kee, a former CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. banker, admitted to insider trading on two stocks before the companies received takeover offers. Tay, 41, pleaded guilty to trading on price-sensitive information in a Singapore State Court and was fined S$180,000 ($130,000). He bought shares in Qualitas Medical Group Ltd. and welding products supplier Leeden Ltd. in 2011 ...

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