May, 2016

• 16 May

  Myanmar religious tolerance activists face police action

    Yangon / AFP Myanmar police on Monday said they have begun legal action against five protesters over a weekend rally intended to promote religious tolerance. The move came as rights groups raise concerns about efforts by the new pro-democracy government to amend draconian laws on demonstrations. Dozens of activists and students marched through Yangon in a rare gesture of religious ...

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• 16 May

  Philippines’ Duterte vows hangings in ‘war on crime’

  

    Davao / AFP Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte vowed on Monday to introduce executions by hanging as part of a ruthless law-and-order crackdown that would also include ordering military snipers to kill suspected criminals. In back-to-back press conferences since his landslide victory in May 9 elections, the tough-talking mayor of southern Davao city said security forces would be given “shoot-to-kill” ...

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• 16 May

  Nigerian govt to meet unions over national strike threat

    Lagos / AFP Nigeria’s government will meet union leaders to try to prevent a planned national strike over a 67 percent hike in the price of petrol, the labour ministry said on Monday. Ministry spokesman Samuel Olowookere said the talks would take place in Abuja at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) and involve government officials, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) ...

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• 16 May

  Deutsche Bank’s woes continue as overhaul needs big capital

  

    Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is stuck in a vicious circle as co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan seeks to overhaul an impaired business that needs more capital, which the bank would struggle to raise if it tried to tap investors, according to Berenberg. The Frankfurt-based lender’s biggest problem is excessive leverage, Berenberg’s James Chappell wrote Monday in a note that ...

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• 16 May

  Bank of America names Seguchi as Japan head

    Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. appointed Jiro Seguchi to head its brokerage and banking units in Japan from June 1, replacing Tim Latimore. Seguchi, co-head of global corporate and investment banking in the Asia-Pacific region, will move to Tokyo from Hong Kong to add the new role as country executive for Japan, according to an internal memo obtained by ...

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• 16 May

  UBS Investment Bank hires Brevan Howard economist

    Bloomberg UBS Group AG hired Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP’s Arend Kapteyn as chief economist of its investment bank. Kapteyn will join the Swiss lender on August 1 in London and will report to global head of investment bank research Juan Luis Perez, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News. A spokesman for the bank confirmed the ...

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• 16 May

  Bankers rescuing Italy’s lenders gloomy

  

    Bloomberg Selling shares in an Italian bank today, as one fund manager put it to Gadfly, is like selling black shoes in spring time—a tough exercise. Carlo Messina, CEO of one of the banks overseeing the IPO of Veneto Banca, a troubled Italian lender struggling to meet European Central Bank requests to boost capital, has given his own grim ...

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• 16 May

  Russia’s VTB bank returns to profit in Q1

    Moscow / AFP Russia’s second largest bank VTB on Monday announced a return to profit in the first quarter, saying “stabilisation” in the Russian economy had boosted revenues, although by less than analysts had expected. Between January and March, state-controlled VTB posted a net profit of 600 million rubles ($9.24 million), after a 18.3-billion-ruble loss in the same period last ...

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• 16 May

  Bank of Baroda slumps most since August

  

    Bloomberg Bank of Baroda (BoB) shares slumped the most in almost nine months after the Indian lender reported a surprise quarterly loss and its chief executive officer flagged an increase in bad loans over the coming months. Shares of the nation’s second-largest state bank sank 8.3 percent to 142.30 rupees in Mumbai. Analysts at Deutsche Bank AG, Jefferies India ...

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• 16 May

  BoJ negative rate move hits lender’s profits

    Tokyo / AFP The Bank of Japan’s shock negative rate policy is taking a bite out of profits at major banks, with Mitsubishi UFJ on Monday warning over its bottom line. The huge lender said its net profit fell 8.0 percent to 951.4 billion yen ($8.7 billion) in the fiscal year to March, blaming the drop on a slowdown in ...

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