Italy’s problem bank casts shadow over Draghi’s summer break
When Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi returns from his brief summer break one of the thorniest items on his to do list will be finally fixing the woes of the world’s oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The Tuscan lender’s decline has tarnished Draghi’s record ever since 2008 when, as Bank of Italy chief, he approved its […]
Top earning bankers move to EU from Britain ahead of Brexit
Nearly a hundred highly paid bankers left Britain ahead of its departure from the European Union. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said in its annual survey of bankers earning a million euros ($1.17 million) or more a year that Britain saw a drop of 95 high earners in 2019. The country still accounted for 71% of the 4,963 bankers […]
Sri Lanka becomes first in Asia to tighten policy in pandemic era
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) became the first in Asia, to raise interest rates since the pandemic began. The central bank increased the standing deposit facility rate and the standing lending facility rate by 50 basis points each to 5% and 6%, respectively. It also increased the statutory reserve ratio by 200 basis points to 4% with […]
Banks take steps to reduce potential cloud computing risks, Google survey
A survey by Harris Poll and Google Cloud stated that the Banks are taking steps to mitigate risks from their increasing use of external cloud computing services. The Bank of England and the Bank of France have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in how banks rely on a concentrated number of outside cloud computing providers like Google, Microsoft […]
Dutch bank ABN Amro resumes dividend payments as Q2 net profit beats
Dutch bank ABN Amro said that it would resume dividend payments as an economic recovery in the Netherlands had helped a stronger-than-expected bounce in net profit. Amsterdam-based ABN said net profit rose to 393 million euros ($460.48 million) in the second quarter. This is because of the coronavirus restrictions were eased and companies gradually resumed business. […]
AIB becomes first Irish lender to kick off Covid – 19 writebacks
Allied Irish Banks (AIB) became the first Irish bank to unwind provisions on bad loans related to the COVID-19 crisis. This is after its first half return to profit included a net credit impairment writeback of 103 million euros. The bank posted a half-year pretax profit of 291 million euros ($345.62 million). Ireland’s other dominant lender, Bank of Ireland, took a further […]
BoE’s Broadbent sees reasons for inflation tide to ebb
Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said that a current spike in prices is unlikely to create longer-term inflation pressures but central bankers should keep a close eye on job market shortages after the pandemic. Splits have emerged among top policymakers at the British central bank on the need to remove stimulus for the […]
Open banking driving financial innovation
A new force is blasting through the European financial system. Open Banking is forcing traditional banks to share customer data, with permission to third-party service providers. Open Banking is changing the landscape of finance. In this London is at the forefront. Freedom Finance is a search engine for loans. Jake Ranson, Freedom Finance’s chief customer […]
Singapore bank DBS starts trading on London metal exchange
Singapore bank DBS said that it has commenced commodity trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME). This is after it became the first bank in Asia to be issued bourse membership registered outside London, as metals prices surge on global economic recovery. DBS has become one of four current LME Category 4 members. This allows […]
BOJ policymakers saw prospects of quicker recovery in April
The massive stimulus measures deployed by advanced nations may help quicken the pace of recovery in the Japanese and global economies. This was agreed by the Bank of Japan board members in their April policy-setting meeting showed on Wednesday. The central bank in the world’s third-biggest economy will keep monetary settings unchanged for the time […]