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☆ Factbox: US banks hit by deposit flight as clients seek higher returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] The company logo for financial broker Charles Schwab is displayed at a location in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoApril 17 (Reuters) - The closure of two U.S. regional banks in March shook investor confidence in the banking industry and drove spooked customers to seek refuge in "too-big-to-fail" institutions or money market funds for higher yields. First Republic Bank (FRC.N) said on Monday deposits plunged by more than $100 billion in the first quarter and it was exploring options such as restructuring its balance sheet. Total deposits at Wall Street's biggest lenders:Overview of deposits at other prominent financial firms:Source: Company statementsCompiled by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Protesters storm Paris Euronext building in anger over pension law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Noemie Olive | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - A group of protesters briefly invaded offices of stockmarket operator Euronext in Paris' La Defense business district on Thursday, saying big companies must pay up to finance pensions, as part of wider protests against a rise in the retirement age. Waving union flags, the group of a few hundred protesters occupied Euronext's lobby, engulfed in red smoke from flares, and chanted words popular with pension protesters: "We are here, we are here, even if Macron does not want it we are here." At the weekend, Macron signed into law the rise in the retirement age which means citizens must work two years longer, to 64, before receiving their state pension. "We'll continue until the (pension law's) withdrawal," protesters shouted in La Defense's central square, standing by a banner that read: "No to the pension reform". Macron himself faced protests on Thursday during his second public outing since signing the bill into law.

☆ Factbox: Deposit flight from U.S. regional banks raise questions about funding costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The company logo for financial broker Charles Schwab is displayed at a location in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoApril 17 (Reuters) - Regional banks in the United States on Monday reported deposit outflows between 3% and 11% from the prior quarter after customers sought the refuge of bigger banks in the aftermath of one of the worst banking crises. The closure of two regional banks in March shook investor confidence and set off fears over deposit safety after small banks shed $177.5 billion in deposits in March from the previous month, according to data from the U.S. Federal Reserve. These lenders will be compelled to lift deposit rates to lure customers, analysts worry, raising costs of one of the cheapest sources of funding. Compiled by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Her comments were echoed by others who feel the narrative shared by three top central banks of relatively cost-free disinflation rests on shaky ground. Among the Fed, ECB and BoE, only the British central bank projects a recession will be needed to slow inflation - only a mild one at that. U.S. central bank officials have split the difference, projecting a modest one-percentage-point rise in the unemployment rate this year from its near-historic low of 3.5%, and slow, but continued, economic growth. Martins Kazaks, Latvia's central bank chief, said the risk of a recession was still "non-trivial," with a host of factors still putting pressure on prices. For the Fed, different policymakers offer different ideas about the forces that will lower inflation as high interest rates slowly cool demand.

☆ Britain seeks to boost banking services from fintechs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"While significant progress has been made, there is more to be done to deliver the full benefits of open banking within retail banking markets, and beyond," the statement said. The recommendations from regulators will keep up momentum in open banking and extend its benefits to other sectors, said Marion King, chair of Open Banking Limited, which checks on whether the nine banks comply with open banking rules on customer data. Britain is keen to push open banking to the next stage following Brexit to attract more fintechs to set up in Britain as the European Union is poised to compete with its own version of open banking. The data protection draft law, now going through parliament, will be used to put open banking on a sustainable footing, Griffith said. "We now need to see proportionate regulation," said Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, the UK fintech industry body.

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Recession fears resurface
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Markets rose after the CPI was released — why wouldn't they? Then minutes from the FOMC's meeting came out and changed investors' day. Subscribe here to get this report sent directly to your inbox each morning before markets open.

☆ JPMorgan just killed Wall Street's WFH dreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But do you think execs will be OK with their subordinates working remote while they are stuck in the office? Plenty of others, most notably Goldman Sachs' David Solomon, have touted the importance of being in the office (blah blah mentorship model blah blah). Now JPMorgan just laid the blueprint for everyone else to force their own employees back in. Here are more details, including the internal memo, on JPMorgan forcing MDs back into the office. Salt Labs wants to help low- and medium-income workers build wealth via an app that operates like a frequent-flyer program.

☆ UK lenders see weak mortgage lending, but no wider credit crunch: BoE
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lenders signalled that loan spreads - the additional interest that banks charge to borrowers over and above the market rate - were likely to narrow in the second quarter. The BoE said lenders plan to restrict the supply of secured lending to households in the second quarter, with mortgage approvals data already showing signs of a sharp slowdown. While that may weaken housing market activity in the months ahead, the survey showed lenders expect to increase the supply of consumer credit and maintain existing levels of corporate lending in the coming months. The quarterly Credit Conditions Survey also showed rising default rates across mortgages, consumer credit and corporate loans during the first quarter. Lenders expected them to rise further in the second quarter.

☆ China is waging a war on its financial industry. Some high-profile bankers are ensnared
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Last Friday, authorities opened a similar probe into Liu Liange, former chairman of state-owned Bank of China, the country’s fourth largest lender. And in January, Wang Bin, who headed state-owned China Life Insurance from 2018 to early 2022, was charged by national prosecutors with taking bribes and hiding overseas savings. They include financial giants such as China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, China Development Bank, which provides financing for key government projects, and Agricultural Bank of China, another large state-controlled lender. “The current financial crackdown is a new wave of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign against the financial sector for consolidation of his power,” said Chongyi Feng, an associate professor in China Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. But the deepening crackdown on the vast financial sector could rattle investors.

[1/2] The entry to the Home Capital Group's headquarters is seen at an office tower in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada May 1, 2017. REUTERS/Chris HelgrenTORONTO, April 4 (Reuters) - Canada's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it is reviewing the potential acquisition of Canadian lender Home Capital Group Inc (HCG.TO) by privately held peer Smith Financial Corp."I can confirm that the Competition Bureau is reviewing the potential acquisition of Home Capital Group by Smith Financial Corporation," a spokesperson for the regulator said in an email to Reuters. Home Capital and Smith Financial were unavailable to immediately provide comment. Home Capital, rescued by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) five years ago, announced in November it would be taken private by Smith Financial in a C$1.7 billion ($1.27 billion) deal. Smith Financial is controlled by Stephen Smith, the co-founder of Home Capital's larger rival First National Financial Corp (FN.TO) and a top shareholder of lender EQB Inc (EQB.TO).

Several major finance companies also voluntarily reported ethnicity pay data for the period. The majority of major finance firms nonetheless made progress in narrowly closing their gender pay gaps, according to their disclosures. ETHNICITY PAY GAPSHalf of the 20 finance firms reviewed reported varying detail on ethnicity pay gaps, with some including insurer Phoenix doing so for the first time. Where pay gaps were further broken down by ethnicity, they showed the largest pay disparities were between Black and white employees. All the employers said in their pay gap reports they were taking steps to improve diversity, particularly at senior levels.

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Markets looked past banking crisis to rally in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Last month, they shrugged off crisis after crisis and posted impressive gains. Tech stocks benefit the most from lower interest rates, because their valuation tends to depend on future earnings, which are worth less when interest rates are high. Subscribe here to get this report sent directly to your inbox each morning before markets open.

☆ 'Nationalizing bond markets' left central banks unprepared for inflation, top HSBC economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Part of the problem with QE was the fact that you're basically nationalizing bond markets. Bond markets have a very very useful role to play when you've got inflation, which is they're an early warning indicator," King told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick. Central banks around the world have hiked interest rates aggressively over the past year in a bid to rein in soaring inflation, after a decade of loose financial conditions. The swift rise in interest rates has intensified concerns about a potential recession and exposed flaws in the banking system that have led to the collapse of several regional U.S. banks . The prolonged period of loose monetary policy after the global financial crisis equated to central banks "nationalizing bond markets," and meant policymakers were slow off the mark in containing inflation over the past two years, according to HSBC Senior Economic Adviser Stephen King.

☆ It's the U.S., not Europe's banking system that's a concern, top economists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A central theme at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy on Thursday and Friday was the potential for further instability in financial markets, arising from problems in the banking sector — particularly against a backdrop of tightening financial conditions. The move of 2018 was part of a broad rollback of banking rules put in place in the aftermath of the crisis. Although lauding the progress made in Europe, Papaconstantinou emphasized that it is too early to tell whether there is broader weakness in the banking system. It is not an environment where we can sit back and say, 'okay, this was just two blips, and we can continue as usual'. "We learnt the lessons of the financial crisis, there's been deep restructuring in this decade, and they are in a stronger position than in the past, obviously."

☆ New York catches up with London to head City's global centres survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - London is no longer the clear leader among global financial centres after New York rose from second place to level peg with the British capital as more companies list in the United States, the City of London Corporation's said on Thursday. The City, which administers London's financial district, said in its annual survey that benchmarks on the performance of global financial centres gave London an overall competitiveness score of 60, up from 59 in 2022, but New York increased its score to 60. New York overtook London in 2018 to become the top global financial centre in the separate Z/Yen survey. The City is due in the third quarter to set out recommendations for a long-term blueprint to "kickstart" London's role as a post-Brexit global financial centre by 2030. "The UK remains one of the most open and global financial centres with better access to international markets than the US, France, or Japan.

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Deutsche Bank is not Credit Suisse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A Deutsche Bank AG branch in the financial district of Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, May 6, 2022. Deutsche Bank is the latest bank to suffer a panic-driven sell-off. Deutsche Bank is not another Credit Suisse in two key aspects. By contrast, Credit Suisse had a fourth-quarter loss of 1.4 billion Swiss francs ($1.51 billion), bringing it to a full-year loss of 7.3 billion Swiss francs. On the other hand, Credit Suisse disclosed it had to use "liquidity buffers" in 2022 as the Swiss bank fell below regulatory requirements of liquidity.

☆ Saudi National Bank chair resigns just days after Credit Suisse comments sparked sell-off
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Saudi National Bank (SNB) headquarters beyond the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Saudi National Bank Chairman Ammar al-Khudairy resigned his post on Monday, days after his comments exacerbated the share collapse of troubled bank Credit Suisse . Al-Khudairy is stepping down "due to personal reasons," the bank said. The then-SNB chairman said the Saudi bank would not intercede "for many reasons outside the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory." The comments fueled investor panic, sinking Credit Suisse shares 24% during that session, despite effectively reiterating SNB's previous position that it did not intend to expand its holdings beyond its then 9.9% interest as Credit Suisse's largest shareholder.

Pictured here is Shanghai's Lujiazui Financial District on June 7, 2022. Asia-Pacific markets are headed for a fall on Monday after UBS agreed to buy its banking rival Credit Suisse in a $3.2 billion takeover over the weekend. Asian markets will also be expecting several economic releases, such as China's loan prime rate and export data out of South Korea later today. In Japan, markets look to open sharply lower, as the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago stood at 26,945 and its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,700, against the Nikkei 225 last close at 27,333.49. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.76%, with shares of all of its major banks slightly down.

☆ Picking up the pieces in the wake of SVB's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

It's just over a week from Federal regulators announcing they would be bailing out depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Now, the FDIC said Sunday that New York Community Bancorp's Flagstar Bank will take on nearly all of Signature Bridge Bank's deposits. Credit Suisse, whose problems long preceded SVB's downfall, to be fair, is getting acquired by Swiss rival UBS. Silicon Valley Bank was the bank for tech. The people backing venture capitalists, known as limited partners, share their thoughts on how VCs handled the crisis at Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ My small Christian college on Wall Street is on the brink of going under. It had it coming.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

I just graduated from a Christian college on Wall Street, and it's on the verge of going under. The King's College is a tiny, private liberal arts school located in New York City's Financial District. And as an Asian woman who grew up in white, conservative Christian spaces, I didn't feel out of place in a student body that was predominantly white. 'Don't just go to college, come to King's'So how does a small, Christian school end up in the heart of the country's largest city? The King's CollegeThere are two kinds of King's students: those who just go to King's and those who are "King's people."

☆ Investors pile into cash but "no equity capitulation" - BofA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File PhotoCash funds saw a “huge” inflow of $112.7 billion in the latest week, BofA said, citing EPFR data. Inflows into cash for the first quarter of 2023 are on course to be the highest since the second quarter of 2020, BofA said. Meanwhile, equity funds saw a “tiny” weekly outflow of $26 million, and investors pulled $2.3 billion from bonds and put $600 million into gold. The turmoil in markets has spooked investors, but BofA said equity flows had been unchanged week-on-week and there was “no equity capitulation”. There was a “flight to quality” in fixed income according to BofA, with $9.8 billion poured into Treasuries - the largest weekly inflow since May 2022.

Virgin Money (VMUK.L), Britain's sixth largest bank, said in a statement it had also seen "net business deposit inflows in recent days". That means SVB UK's customer deposits are safe and their loans supported, HSBC's top bosses have said. Franklin told Reuters a number of CEOs and startup execs had started researching other banks with which to park cash in addition to SVB UK this week, citing Barclays as a favourite among some. But the collapse of SVB has intensified scrutiny of the business models of all lenders, including specialists with smaller balance sheets to fall back on. "The UK banking system remains safe and continues to operate as normal."

A lot has changed since then, and today, the best cocktail bars are instead concentrated in Taipei’s financial district. These bars embrace the flavors of locally abundant flowers and fruits like roselle, guava and white ginger lily, which they infuse in syrups and liquors. For a sleek lounge experience, try Fridge Bar (cocktails from 380 Taiwan dollars), a cocktail lounge hidden behind a steel door in a sandwich shop. For a bit more novelty, consider Placebo , whose decor is reminiscent of an old Chinese medicine shop and where drinks (around 400 Taiwan dollars) may be served out of antique-looking teapots. Both bars encourage going off-menu; feel free to request a flavor profile (sour, sweet, herbaceous, spicy) or a quirky ingredient (basil, sesame oil, chile pepper) and let the bartender surprise you.

☆ Britain to bolster the City after Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A person walks over Millennium Bridge amidst early morning fog, as the sun rises beyond the City of London financial district in the background, in London, Britain, February 8, 2023. Following the collapse of its parent company in the United States, Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm was sold to HSBC over the weekend to avoid disrupting its customers in Britain. Hunt said he would make a statement in the autumn on how the UK financial system would be strengthened. City Minister Andrew Griffith has said that an accounting rule for pension funds has become a "performance penalty" which holds back investment in Britain. The financial sector has called for faster implementation of the proposals after Amsterdam overtook London as Europe's biggest share trading centre.

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