Federal Reserve in retreat as reasons for rate hikes fade

  Bloomberg Three weeks ago, Federal Reserve officials sounded like they needed a reason not to hike interest rates soon. Now, they’re in search of a reason to consider any change in policy. “Unless something unexpectedly positive happens, they’re likely on hold for the next couple of meetings,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust Corp in Chicago. Fed ...

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Yuan rate increases as banks hoard cash

  Bloomberg China’s money-market rate jumped by the most in almost three months as injections of funds by the central bank were overwhelmed by quarter-end demand. The 14-day repurchase rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, climbed 13 basis points to 2.92 percent. in Shanghai, the most since March 31, according to National Interbank Funding Center prices. The benchmark seven-day ...

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Banking’s disrupters face upheaval of their own in Brexit vote

  Bloomberg Entrepreneurs who’ve flocked to London in recent years to upend the financial world with technology are dreading one potential disruption they can’t control: Britain leaving the European Union. A decision to quit the 28-nation bloc in Thursday’s referendum would threaten trade and regulatory benefits that have made London a hub for financial startups, as well as a center ...

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Scotiabank to join with Kabbage for online small-business loans

  Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest lender by assets, is collaborating with financial technology firm Kabbage Inc to offer loans online to small businesses. The program will be available in Canada starting next month and in Mexico later this year, Atlanta-based Kabbage said that didn’t include terms. Business customers can apply for loans through Scotiabank’s website in the ...

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Norway’s consumer watchdog sues bank for US$83 million

  AP Norway’s consumer watchdog is suing the country’s largest bank, DNB, on behalf of 150,000 customers, claiming it has overcharged them 690 million kroner (US$83 million) in management fees in “falsely active funds.” In one of Norway’s largest class action lawsuits to date, the Norwegian Consumer Council says that from 2010 to 2014 the bank had charged customers six ...

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SoftBank’s President Nikesh Arora steps down

  Bloomberg The surprise departure of Nikesh Arora, heir apparent at SoftBank Group Corp, highlights a problem many Japanese companies face: passing the reins to a successor. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, 58, said he wants to remain at the helm of the company he built from a computer software distributor into one of Japan’s largest telecommunications and investment groups, while ...

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Brexit polls at odds with currency mkts

  Bloomberg Britain’s referendum on EU membership entered its final day of campaigning with opinion polls and financial markets at odds about the likely outcome. Money has piled into bets on “Remain” winning over the past week. The pound has surged to a five-month high and an index of betting flows compiled by Oddschecker shows the chance of Brexit has ...

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Picasso, Modigliani lift Sotheby’s sale ahead of plebiscite

  Bloomberg Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani gave the auction market a much-needed boost on Tuesday when they fetched the highest prices for Sotheby’s in London since 2010. Picasso’s 1909 Cubist painting “Femme Assise” sold for £43.3 million ($63.5 million), surpassing the estimated target of £30 million. Moments later, Modigliani’s “ Jeanne Hebuterne (au Foulard)” took £38.5 million, ...

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UK business chiefs push for ‘Remain’ on referendum eve

  London / AFP Bosses from more than half of Britain’s biggest companies on Wednesday urged Britons to vote Remain on the eve of a critical EU membership referendum. Almost 1,300 business executives — including those from 51 of London’s top FTSE 100 listed companies —wrote in a letter to The Times newspaper that Britain leaving the EU could cause ...

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Brexit could leave UK struggling to match access to Asia

  Bloomberg The U.K. could find itself hard pressed to replicate access to Asia’s lucrative markets — from New Zealand to India — should voters in the world’s fifth-biggest economy opt to leave the EU. With Asia accounting for two-thirds of global growth, the U.K.’s trade ties with the region are crucial for it. While some politicians such as Boris ...

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