Swedbank shares hit by interest income dip
Swedish lender Swedbank reported slightly worse than expected quarterly earnings. This is with a drop in interest income disappointing investors and sending its shares down more than 4%. After tracking a robust recovery from the first waves of the pandemic through much of 2021, Nordic economies hit a bump in the road at the back […]
BNP Paribas brings forward BoE rate hike call to Feb
BNP Paribas is expecting that the Bank of England is to raise UK interest rate hikes by 0.25%. And that too by next month. This is early when compared to the early forecast in May. The bank‘s chief European economist Paul Hollingsworth said in a research note that with the Covid backdrop improving and inflation continuing to surprise […]
Commerzbank Q4 weighed down by provisions at Polish mBank unit
Commerzbank said that its fourth-quarter earnings would be impacted by provisions made at its Polish mBank subsidiary. It would still post a net profit for the full year. The German lender said that mBank had made provisions regarding the foreign currency indexed loan agreements in the amount of 2.006 billion zloty. Also, added that its fourth-quarter results […]
World Bank Chief takes swipe at Microsoft’s $69 BLN gaming deal
World Bank President David Malpass criticized Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of gaming developer Activision Blizzard as a questionable allocation of capital. This is when poor countries are struggling to restructure debts and fight poverty. Malpass said during a Peterson Institute for International Economics virtual event that more capital needed to flow into poor countries. But these flows […]
Bank of England to get more powers
The Bank of England will get more powers to set direct requirements for clearing and settlement houses. This is as a part of a wider regulatory revamp because of Brexit. This was proposed by the UK finance ministry. The BoE has very limited powers to set direct regulations for clearing and settlement. These processes that ensure that […]
Amancio Ortega buys Toronto’s Royal Bank Plaza
Spanish billionaire and Zara founder Amancio Ortega agreed to buy Royal Bank Plaza. It houses their headquarters of Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s biggest bank, in Toronto for around 800 million euros ($916.88 million). Pontegadea, the family office of the main shareholder of fashion group Inditex, confirmed the deal to buy the landmark Canadian skyscraper. They famed for a […]
Bank of England aims to print books
The Bank of England will publish a book aimed at improving the British public’s understanding of economics later this year. Its title will be “Can’t we just print more money?”. The BoE ended an 895-billion-pound ($1.2 trillion) programme of bond purchases. A policy often dubbed money printing and which critics blame for fuelling inflation. BoE […]
Community banks turns on forex services
Historically, there has been a significant barrier to entry for community banks and credit unions to fulfil their customers’ foreign exchange (forex) transaction needs. They lack in the technology platforms and the in-house forex expertise. Hence, they have had to rely on correspondent banks to service their customers. The fast-growing fintech sector is bringing forex […]
All options to be explored by Italy’s Pop Sondrio
Italy’s Banca Popolare di Sondrio’s CEO said that it is open to exploring all options for its future. This is after shareholders approved long-delayed governance changes that could open the mutual bank up to a merger. Yet Mario Pedranzini stressed that, while M&A was an option, Popolare di Sondrio was a healthy lender that did not need […]
Almost $10 MLN fined by Deutsche bank over Euribor controls
German financial regulator BaFin has fined Deutsche Bank nearly $10 million for controls which is related to the Euribor interest rate. This is in a setback for the nation’s largest lender as it seeks to restore its reputation. The 8.66 million euro $9.77 million fine announced on Wednesday is the first imposed by BaFin under a 2018 […]