Investors’ pens are hovering a bit longer before writing checks to fintech startups. Funding Circle Holdings Plc was once tipped to be valued at as much as 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO). When it made its market debut last week, the online lending marketplace weighed in at a skinnier 1.5 billion pounds. That’s still ...
Read More »Australian lenders won’t have to face the music
Australia’s investigation into misconduct within its financial-services sector is moving towards the last act. Just don’t expect to see the bad guys get punished. The Royal Commission, which published its interim report, has heard a litany of bad practices the country’s banks, insurers, financial advisers and others have committed, from charging dead people fees to duping the corporate regulator. The ...
Read More »Stock gloom deepens as Italy defies EU; euro drops
Bloomberg US equity futures fell with European shares as fresh concern about Italy’s defiance of EU officials added to an already gloomy mood across stocks, with those in China tumbling after a one-week vacation ended. The dollar rose as Treasuries took a holiday before a busy week of debt sales. Oil companies and banks led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index ...
Read More »Watch FANG stocks for warning of Fed mistake: Julius Baer
Bloomberg If the Federal Reserve tightens US monetary policy too far, investors in the bull market’s biggest winners will feel the pain first, according to Bank Julius Baer & Co. That’s tech stocks. Strong economic growth will encourage the Fed to keep raising interest rates, even if the tightening sucks out more liquidity than financial markets can tolerate, said Yves ...
Read More »Big banks aim to show higher profits still ahead as rates rise
Bloomberg As concerns from bank investors go, “peak profitability†seems an unusual one. But as the biggest US banks report results that analysts estimate will set a new high for profitability this decade, shareh-olders are wondering: is this as good as gets, or is Jamie Dimon right that banks are entering a golden age. “The quarter will be fine,†Susan ...
Read More »UBS accused of Bond movie tactics in Paris tax-dodging trial
Bloomberg UBS Group AG goes on trial in Paris on Monday accused of encouraging rich clients to stash cash overseas to evade French taxes by deploying tactics “worthy of James Bond.†The Zurich-based lender dispatched bankers across the border to seek out new clients even though they lacked the paperwork — a banking license or European passport — to offer ...
Read More »Morgan Stanley to create tech-friendly offices
Bloomberg Morgan Stanley is remodeling. About 1.2 million square feet (111,000 square meters) of office space will get an overhaul in the next 15 months to put technology experts closer to brokers, traders and bankers, the firm’s head of technology, Rob Rooney, said in an interview. After changes to wealth-management operations, tra- ding floors, investment-banking offices and space tied to ...
Read More »Mexico central bank nominee sees interest rate cuts in 2019
Bloomberg The economist tipped to be Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s first central bank board nominee said he expects policy makers to cut the key interest rate starting next year given the outlook for slowing inflation and growth. Policy makers have room to ease even as the Federal Reserve tightens, Jonathan Heath, a former chief economist at HSBC Holdings ...
Read More »India keeps door open to rate hike
Bloomberg Bonds traders were fast to cheer the Reserve Bank of India for keeping rates on hold. The gains may prove fleeting. While the central bank surprised by keeping borrowing costs unchanged, it changed its stance to “calibrated tightening†from neutral, signaling more hikes lie ahead. Add to that concerns about soaring oil prices and the tumbling rupee, investors are ...
Read More »South Africa urges its banks to innovate
Bloomberg South Africa will strive to allow competition into its banking system in a way that won’t threaten the stability of the industry as more and more entrants seek to rival the nation’s biggest lenders, said Kuben Naidoo, the chief executive of the Prudential Authority. While many new banking licenses are expected to be granted, these would be done within ...
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