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☆ Analysis: Washington pushes for harsher action against banks with Russia ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( John O'Donnell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"We are looking at additional banks and financial institutions to see how Russia deals with the outside world. Some European banks, including UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBIV.VI), have large businesses there and must follow local rules to grant payment holidays to soldiers. ENFORCEMENTO'Brien said that the United States would step up enforcement, something the EU also hopes to improve. "We are now looking at how sanctions, including financial sanctions, can be most effective," he said. "While the majority of important Russian banks are sanctioned, there is a lot outside that perimeter that you could go after," said Nicolas Veron, of Washington think tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

☆ Adani group firms pledge shares for lenders of flagship company – SBICAP Trustee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Three Adani group companies have pledged shares for lenders to the Indian conglomerate's flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), which pulled a $2.5 billion share sale during a recent market rout, the debt trustee firm said. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS), Adani Transmission Ltd (ADAI.NS) and Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS) pledged shares to SBICAP Trustee Co, the firm said in Friday filings to the Bombay Stock Exchange. SBICAP Trustee said it had received the pledges in its capacity as "security trustee" of the lenders of Adani Enterprises. Fitch estimates that loans to all Adani group entities account for 0.8% to 1.2% of total lending by Indian banks rated by the agency. The Adani exposure of Indian banks is not enough to affect their credit profiles, two global rating agencies have said.

☆ Gautam Adani will be playing defense for a while after mauling by Hindenburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The sprawling Adani Group, which he founded over 30 years ago, has established interests in industries ranging from logistics to mining. “We view this as validation of our findings on offshore stock parking by Adani,” Hindenburg founder Nate Anderson said on Twitter. In its report, Hindenburg had alleged that “offshore shells and funds tied to the Adani Group comprise many of the largest ‘public’ holders of Adani stock.”An Adani Group spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, said Thursday it has “for all practical purposes…fully divested,” from the Adani companies. The loans were backed by shares in Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission.

☆ NYU's 'Dean of Valuation' says Adani Group exploited 'weakest links' in Indian institutions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Adani Group didn't play a "con game" but has exploited the "weakest links" in India's institutions to its advantage, according to NYU's "Dean of Valuation" Aswath Damodaran. It's not healthy for a market," Damodaran, told CNBC's "Streets Sign Asia" on Thursday. "That's why I said Adani is not about the company … this is about the weakest links in the India story. Art school teacher Sagar Kambli gives final touches to a painting of Indian businessman Gautam Adani (L) highlighting the ongoing crisis of the Adani group in Mumbai on February 3, 2023. The Adani Group firmly denied the accusations, calling it a "calculated attack on India" and its institutions.

☆ Italian banks' lending to firms stagnates in December
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A monthly report on the balance sheets of domestic banks showed loans to non-financial companies were flat year-on-year in December compared with a 2.7% expansion the previous month. Extraordinary government support measures during the pandemic and the energy crisis fuelled strong growth in corporate bank lending, but the trend has weakened as support measures have been gradually unwound. Banks' corporate loans totalled 649.2 billion euros at the end of December, down from 666.3 billion euros a month earlier. Thursday's data also showed Italian residents' deposits with domestic banks fell to 2.71 trillion euros ($2.92 trillion) compared with 2.74 trillion euros the previous month. Gross unpaid loans declined to 30.15 billion euros at the end of December from 34.01 billion euros a month earlier.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has spoken and luckily for bulls and bears, there was something for everyone, so where Asian markets go on Wednesday is something a coin flip. With an expected interest rate rise in India taking center stage regionally, investors in Asia will be digesting the mixed U.S. picture that saw stocks rise but the dollar and Treasuries ease lower on Tuesday. But he also said "it will take some time" to get the inflation genie back in the 2% bottle. The Reserve Bank of India is likely to raise its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.50%, which most economists reckon will be the last of the hiking cycle. With the rupee within a whisker of October's record low, however, traders will be on RBI intervention alert.

The West blocked several major Russian banks' access to the international SWIFT payments system soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, with dominant lenders Sberbank (SBER.MM) and VTB (VTBR.MM) - Russia's No. 2 bank - forced to shutter operations across much of Europe. Kostin, in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24, said the bank had managed to grow its retail and corporate loan portfolios, but that sanctions accounted for all the lender's losses. VTB was forced to buy FX on the open market when the rouble had weakened sharply to more than 100 against the dollar, Kostin said. VTB was profitable in January and hopes to post profits in 2023 with a similar number of zeroes as the 320-billion-rouble figure achieved in 2021, Kostin said.

☆ Indian banks' exposure to Adani group "insufficient" to pose credit risk - Fitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MUMBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The exposure of Indian banks to the embattled Adani Group is "insufficient in itself" to present a substantial risk to the credit profiles of these lenders, Fitch Ratings said in a note on Tuesday. Fitch estimated that loans to all Adani group entities generally account for 0.8%-1.2% of total lending for Indian banks rated by the agency, equivalent to 7%-13% of total equity. SBI's total exposure was 0.9% of its total loan book, or around 270 billion rupees, Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has said. Additionally, most of the bank's exposure to the Adani Group was secured by completed and cash-generating assets while the rest of the exposure was to on-schedule, under-construction projects, said CreditSights. Fitch, however, cautioned that Indian state banks could face pressure to provide refinancing for Adani entities if foreign banks scale back their exposure or investor appetite for the group's debt weakens in global markets.

☆ Adani crisis: Billionaire scrambles to reassure creditors as market rout enters third week
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The loans were backed by shares in Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, which have collapsed in value. While the Adani Group has vehemently denied the allegation made by Hindenburg Resarch as “baseless” and “malicious,” investors remain unconvinced. Adani companies will be reporting quarterly results this week. Moody’s said Friday that the plunge in the shares of Adani companies was likely to reduce the group’s ability to raise capital. Another agency, S&P, cut the outlook for its ratings on two companies, Adani Ports and Adani Electricity, to negative from stable, citing the risk of higher funding costs or reduced access to capital.

☆ Indian market regulator seeks beneficial ownership details of foreign investors -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jayshree Pyasi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - India's market regulator has written to custodian banks to share details of beneficial owners of offshore funds and foreign portfolio investors, according to two sources directly aware of the matter. The regulator has asked custodian banks to reach out to foreign portfolio investors by March and share the details by end of September, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is confidential. If they do not provide such details, the regulator would deem the foreign funds in-eligible and ask them to liquidate their holdings in the Indian market by March 2024. There are 11,000 foreign funds registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Reporting by Jayshree P UpadhyayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FPI selling in Indian stock hits 7-month high on rich valuations, Adani rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Bharath Rajeswaran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded Indian equities worth 288.52 billion rupees ($3.51 billion) in January, the most since June, data from National Securities Depository Ltd. showed. Reuters GraphicsThe selling coincided with a slide in equity benchmarks, with Nifty 50 (.NSEI) falling 2.45% in the first month of 2023. WHAT FOREIGN INVESTORS SOLD & BOUGHTForeign investors sold the most in financials, offloading 152.04 billion rupees of shares, followed by 75.96 billion rupees in oil and gas and 27.77 bln rupees in consumer durables. Reuters GraphicsMetals was the only major sector that saw renewed interest from foreign investors, who bought 43.69 billion rupees worth of equities. ($1 = 82.3130 Indian rupees)Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gautam Adani lost half his wealth in a flash. Here’s what happened
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

While the Adani Group has condemned the report as “baseless” and “malicious,” investor questions about its claims linger, and the fallout is growing. Gautam Adani is a 60-year-old tycoon who founded the Adani Group more than 30 years ago. The firm said it had taken a short position in Adani Group companies, meaning it would benefit from a drop in their value. Stocks of most Adani Group companies slumped again on Friday. Indian banks that hold Adani Group assets could also be affected if the value of those holdings continues to drop.

☆ Banco BPM wants to squeeze more long-term value from retailers' payment business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Italy's third-largest bank Banco BPM (BAMI.MI) is keen to generate greater value longer-term from its retailers' payment business as it explores strategic options for the unit, its chief executive said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Assiom-Forex conference in Milan, Chief Executive Giuseppe Castagna said Banco BPM was considering ways to boost profitability at its business that provides payment services to shopkeepers. "What we certainly won't do is be selling future P&L (profit and loss) inflows to get cash upfront," Castagna said. "Like with our other businesses, we're looking for ... a model that creates more value for the bank," Castagna said without elaborating. Banco BPM recently agreed to sell a majority stake in its non-life insurance business to Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA), its single biggest investor with whom it already partnered in consumer credit.

☆ Large Brazilian banks may set aside around $890 mln for Americanas losses in Q4
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Aluisio Alves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian banks may start setting aside provisions for losses with retailer Americanas already in the fourth quarter of 2022, analysts say. Banks such as BTG Pactual , Bradesco (BBDC4.SA), Santander Brasil , Itaú Unibanco Holding (ITUB4.SA) and Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA) have around 15 billion reais in loans with Americanas, according to analyst reports. Analysts estimate the banks may provision around 30% of their loans in the fourth quarter, which would be equivalent to 4.5 billion reais ($890 million), even with bankruptcy protection taking place in January, as a precautionary measure allowed by the Brazilian central bank. The first Brazilian bank to release fourth quarter earnings, on Thursday, is Banco Santander Brasil. ($1 = 5.0544 reais)Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Tatiana Bautzerd; Editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Markets 'overpricing' Indian banks' risk from Adani exposure - Societe Generale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Markets are "overpricing" the risk to Indian lenders from their exposure to Adani Group, which was targeted last week in a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research, Societe Generale said, adding that a sell-off in banking shares seems overdone. The allegations in the report, which the ports-to-energy conglomerate has denied, triggered a $65 billion rout in the Indian billionaire's stocks. "We think the market is overpricing the related risks, as we calculate the sector's direct exposure to the Adani group at just 0.6%," they added. Assuming no significant change in the debt structure over the past year, SocGen estimated that Indian banks' loan exposure to Adani was close to $10 billion, just 0.6% of total banking sector loans at nearly $1.5 trillion. It said Indian banks were among the "best positioned" to gain from a rebound in capital expenditure and said it expected more "favourable" valuations post the correction.

☆ Russians' deposits with foreign banks jumped to almost $82 bln in Jan-Nov
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The bank said this did not mean that foreign currency deposits were necessarily flowing from Russian banks to foreign ones, however, as some deposits were converted into roubles or used to buy real estate. Deposits held abroad by Russians have been on the rise since Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, with hundreds of thousands choosing to emigrate. According to the central bank's monthly statistics, the biggest inflow of deposits to foreign banks was recorded in September last year at more than $9 billion, the month when Moscow launch a partial mobilisation of troops. Banks' foreign currency loan portfolios shrank by 18.2% in 2022, the central bank said this week, or by $30.2 billion, as Moscow's 'dedollarisation' push accelerated. ($1 = 70.1455 roubles)Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander MarrowOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Adani’s battle with Hindenburg leaves investors sizing up exposure to the global banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Seema Mody | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Indeed, Indian banks make up 0.6% of the group's sector loans, according to JPMorgan. This may seem low but the total exposure to the Adani Group is still around $9 billion, wrote Saurabh Kumar, an analyst at JPMorgan. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group. Jefferies analyst Prakhar Sharma writes that, for now, the risk to Indian banks is low, saying, "we don't see material risk to the Indian banking sector." Of the seven companies operated by the Adani Group: Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and Adani Ports are sitting on the most net debt, according to analysts.

HONG KONG/MUMBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gautam Adani’s financing options are narrowing fast. That leaves it dependent on a safety net provided by Indian banks. Those concerns exploded after Hindenburg Research last week declared the Indian group was making extensive use of tax havens and “pulling the largest con in corporate history” – allegations Adani dismissed as “misinformation” and “stale, baseless and discredited”. Lending more to the group would protect the capital that banks already have at risk in projects under construction. Shares of Gautam Adani’s listed companies have lost a combined $48 billion in market capitalisation since Jan. 25.

☆ Iran, Russia link banking systems amid Western sanction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Iran and Russia have connected their interbank communication and transfer systems to help boost trade and financial transactions, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, as both Tehran and Moscow are chafing under Western sanctions. Similar limitations have been slapped on some Russian banks since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. "Iranian banks no longer need to use SWIFT ... with Russian banks, which can be for the opening of Letters of Credit and transfers or warranties," Deputy Governor of Iran's Central Bank, Mohsen Karimi, told the semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's Central Bank chief Mohammad Farzin welcomed the move. "The financial channel between Iran and the world is being repaired," he tweeted.

The stunning market selloff has cast a shadow over Adani Enterprises' secondary share sale that started on Friday. The share sale is being managed by Jefferies, India's SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, and ICICI Securities among others. Shares of other listed Adani firms also plummeted, with Adani Transmission Ltd (ADAI.NS), Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Ports (APSE.NS) sinking 20% each. Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission marked their worst intraday drop ever, with heavy volumes. Billionaire U.S. investor Bill Ackman said on Thursday that he found the Hindenburg report "highly credible and extremely well researched."

Adani Group has dismissed the report as baseless and said it is considering whether to take legal action against the New York-based firm. "There were heavy positions in Adani group (shares), the way they have risen in the last couple of years," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities in New Delhi. Shares of other listed Adani firms also plummetted, with Adani Transmission Ltd (ADAI.NS) Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) and Adani Ports (APSE.NS) sinking 20% each. Adani Enterprises' net profit for the period ended Sept. 30, 2022 doubled to 9 billion Indian rupees ($110.31 million) while its total income nearly tripled to 795 billion Indian rupees, according to its share sale prospectus. The company's total liabilities as of September 2022 stood at 869 billion rupees ($10.64 billion), the prospectus showed.

☆ India banks' exposure to Adani Group is limited - CLSA, Jefferies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Indian banks' exposure to the Adani Group is within manageable limits, said brokerage houses CLSA and Jefferies, as the group fend off an attack from well-known short-seller Hindenburg Research. For public sector banks (PSU), the debt is at 0.7% of total loans and for private banks, it is at 0.3%. Indian banks have exposure to less than 40% of total group debt, the brokerage estimates. "Within this, private banks' exposure is below 10% of total group debt and most banks have indicated that they have largely financed assets with strong cash flows, such as airports/ports," CLSA said. While PSU banks have material exposure at 30% of group debt, this level has not increased in the past three years, CLSA said.

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The High Court in London ruled on Friday that a prominent Russian businessman could not pause an $850 million fraud lawsuit brought by two Russian banks because of British sanctions. Boris Mints and his sons Dmitry, Alexander and Igor are being sued by National Bank Trust, which is 99% owned by the Central Bank of Russia, on behalf of Bank Otkritie, once Russia’s largest private lender before it collapsed in 2017. The judge said her written ruling containing her reasons for refusing to pause the case would be published on Friday afternoon. She also granted permission to appeal against her decision to both the Mints family and the banks, saying: "It is plainly a case with far wider implications." Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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