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☆ CBA lowers home loan buffer rates for some refinancing clients to 1%
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 21 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) on Wednesday cut its buffer rate for some borrowers refinancing their existing home loan to 1% from the industry standard of 3%, providing relief to many clients who would otherwise fail to qualify due to high interest rates. The country's prudential regulator advises lenders to refinance home loans only if they believe the customer could repay at 3% higher than current market rates. While CBA's alternate buffer is not in line with the regulator's recommendation, it does not break the serviceability buffer, the regulator said, as it allows exceptions to the policy but warns against high volumes. CBA has a quarter of the Australian mortgage market, where thousands of borrowers are expected to end their fixed rate loans this year, forcing them to shop around for new loans at current rates. "We know that due to the current interest rate environment some home owners are facing challenges refinancing their home loans so we are introducing an alternate interest rate serviceability buffer," CBA's Michael Baumann, executive general manager home buying said.

Persons: CBA's Michael Baumann, Sameer Manekar, Byron Kaye, Nivedita Organizations: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, prudential, CBA, Prudential Regulation Authority, Westpac Banking Corp, Reserve Bank of Australia, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Sydney

☆ UBS faces big penalty over Credit Suisse's Archegos failings -FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UBS has asked the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and UK's Prudential Regulation Authority to publish their findings and announce any penalties jointly at the end of July, FT reported. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority does not have the power to fine financial institutions, president Marlene Amstad said in May. The New York-based firm's demise caused billions of dollars in losses for Credit Suisse. UBS completed its emergency takeover of embattled rival Credit Suisse last week, forging a Swiss banking and wealth management giant with a $1.6 trillion balance sheet. It set aside $4 billion for potential lawsuits on the Credit Suisse deal in May, according to a presentation.

Persons: Marlene Amstad, Archegos, Chandni Shah, Lisa Shumaker, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: UBS Group AG, Archegos, Swiss, Financial, UBS, U.S . Federal Reserve, Swiss Financial Market, Authority, Prudential, U.S . Federal, Suisse, Credit Suisse, U.S, Fed, Thomson Locations: U.S, New York, Bengaluru

SYDNEY, May 31 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will not sign any new contracts with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia until a scandal over the firm's misuse of confidential government tax plans is sorted out, the central bank's governor said on Wednesday. The "big four" firm is on the defense after a former Australian tax partner who was consulting with the government on laws to prevent corporate tax avoidance shared confidential drafts with colleagues to drum up business around the world. As of May 16, the government had committed to contracts worth A$255 million ($173 million) with PwC in the current financial year alone, a finance department official told a parliamentary hearing last week. "(We) have taken the decision to enter no new contracts with PwC until a satisfactory response has been forthcoming," Lowe said. APRA had also spoken with major Australian banks about their ties to PwC, as recently as last week, added Lonsdale.

Persons: Philip Lowe, " Lowe, John Lonsdale, Lonsdale, Steven Kennedy, Kristin Stubbins, PwC, Lewis Jackson, Sonali Paul Organizations: SYDNEY, Reserve Bank of Australia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, Prudential Regulation Authority, APRA, prudential, Thomson Locations: Australia, Australian

2 mortgage provider has told mortgage brokers that "if a customer is unable to meet serviceability under the standard assessment criteria", it might apply a modified serviceability assessment rate. Since the buffer is a guideline, banks are allowed to deviate from it. "APRA should consider officially lowering the serviceability buffer for refinancers." Representatives for Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) and ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Australian banks' bid to shake mortgage reliance brings new risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"When there's a macroeconomic downturn, it's generally institutional and business lending exposures that are impacted first," he added. For decades, Australian housing finance has significantly outpaced business lending, making home loan margins the engine of profits. A more recent exodus from non-lending retail services like financial advice has further weighted banks' allocation of capital to residential property. The big four banks said in earnings updates this month that their net interest margins peaked in late 2022 and have since narrowed. To hedge against interest rates risks, the Big Four may now chase new services-based revenues from commercial clients in non-lending segments, added Garland.

☆ Australia's key financial regulators to review global banking turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, March 28 (Reuters) - Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers will convene a meeting of the country's top financial regulators to check how the latest volatility in global financial markets could affect the country, an official in the treasurer's office said on Tuesday. Australia's Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) will meet on Thursday after Chalmers discussed the latest market turmoil in phone calls with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde overnight. "It's clear from my conversations that international authorities are prepared to do what's necessary to reassure markets at a time of uncertainty and volatility," Chalmers said in a statement. The discussions with key global financial officials come ahead of meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. from April 10 to 16, which Chalmers is expected to attend. Coordinated action by global central banks and international financial authorities have helped ease some concerns but the volatility is contributing to uncertainty more generally in the global economic outlook, Chalmers said.

☆ Australia regulator seeks risk reports from banks on startups, crypto -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 22 (Reuters) - Australia's prudential regulator has started asking the country's banks to declare their exposure to startups and crypto-focused ventures following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The APRA declined to comment on the report but referred to its statement last week that it would intensify supervision of the local banking industry and seek more information on any potential impact from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX) declined to comment, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) and National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week said Australia was in a good position to withstand some of the market volatility because the country's banks were well capitalised, well regulated and had strong liquidity. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank of England welcomes Credit Suisse deal, says UK banks are safe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Logos of Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse are seen in Zurich, Switzerland March 19, 2023. REUTERS/Moritz HagerLONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - The Bank of England welcomed moves by the Swiss authorities to broker a take-over by UBS of Credit Suisse on Sunday, indicating it would support approval of the deal, and it said the British banking system was well funded. UBS (UBSG.S) agreed to buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) in stock and assume up to 5 billion francs ($5.4 billion) in losses in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities. "The UK government welcomes the steps taken today by the Swiss authorities in relation to Credit Suisse to support financial stability, and will continue to engage with the FCA and the Bank of England as is usual," a finance ministry spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.9280 Swiss francs)Reporting by Alistair Smout and Huw Jones Editing by William SchombergOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

March 19 (Reuters) - Talks over rescuing Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) rolled into Sunday as UBS AG (UBSG.S) sought $6 billion from the Swiss government to cover costs if it were to buy its struggling rival, a person with knowledge of the talks said. The guarantees UBS is seeking would cover the cost of winding down parts of Credit Suisse and potential litigation charges, two people told Reuters. Credit Suisse, UBS and the Swiss government declined to comment. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration moved to backstop consumer deposits while the Swiss central bank lent billions to Credit Suisse to stabilise its shaky balance sheet. There were multiple reports of interest for Credit Suisse from other rivals.

☆ UK finance minister, Bank of England governor in contact over Credit Suisse - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt walks at Downing Street in London, Britain, November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File PhotoLONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - British finance minister Jeremy Hunt and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey are in regular contact this weekend over the fate of Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S), according to a source with knowledge of the matter. UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) is mulling a takeover of its embattled Swiss rival Credit Suisse, other sources told Reuters on Saturday, amid a crisis of confidence in the bank that risks destabilizing the global financial system. A spokesperson for the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority, which oversees lenders, declined to comment. Credit Suisse's UK entity, Credit Suisse International, has $60 billion of risk weighted assets, according to the company's latest filings.

☆ UBS reportedly seeks $6 billion in government guarantees for Credit Suisse takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The $6 billion in government guarantees UBS is seeking would cover the cost of winding down parts of Credit Suisse and potential litigation charges, two people told Reuters. One of the sources cautioned that the talks to resolve the crisis of confidence in Credit Suisse are encountering significant obstacles, and 10,000 jobs may have to be cut if the two banks combine. Credit Suisse, UBS and the Swiss government declined to comment. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration moved to backstop consumer deposits while the Swiss central bank lent billions to Credit Suisse to stabilize its shaky balance sheet. UBS was under pressure from the Swiss authorities to carry out a takeover of its local rival to get the crisis under control, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

☆ Bank of England puts UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank into resolution - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 10 (Reuters) - The Bank of England has moved to put the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank, a unit of SVB Financial Group (SIVB.O), into resolution after it applied for 1.8 billion pounds ($2.17 billion) of liquidity as its parent company collapsed, the Financial Times reported on Friday. The Prudential Regulation Authority, which oversees the bank's UK arm, believes it cannot be a viable standalone operation following SVB's takeover by U.S. regulators, the report added. The central bank declined to comment on the report while the Prudential Regulation Authority and Silicon Valley Bank UK did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Silicon Valley Bank UK said earlier today it is a standalone entity with an independent board of directors, ring-fenced from the parent company and other subsidiaries. ($1 = 0.8314 pounds)Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ London fintech Griffin lands UK banking license with restrictions after years-long process as it eyes fresh funding in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

British fintech startup Griffin has secured a banking license after a years-long process. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has approved the startup, subject to restrictions. Banking-as-a-service startup Griffin has become the latest fintech to land a UK banking license with restrictions after a years-long process. Securing a UK banking license is no mean feat. Neobanks like Revolut, founded in 2015, haven't yet managed to get a UK banking license with stringent processes in place, with Jarvis suggesting that the application process isn't something "you can just throw money at."

Say hi to Snow White," Staley emailed Epstein in July 2010, according to filings on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. "Beauty and the Beast," Staley allegedly responded, to which Epstein replied: "Well one side is available," according to the filing. According to the lawsuit, Staley exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JPMorgan email account between 2008 and 2012. Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein on Nov 1, 2009, describing his relationship with Epstein as "profound". One month later, Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein to say how great it had been to give him "a long, heartfelt hug", after which Epstein allegedly sent Staley two pictures of young women.

☆ Britain's Treasury in discussions to speed up Solvency II reforms - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Britain's Treasury is in discussions to speed up a post-Brexit reform that will unlock 100 billion pounds ($120.88 billion) of investment from UK's insurance sector, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. British officials are discussing whether to pursue a two-stage implementation of the European Union's Solvency II regime, the report said. The British government was in "active discussions with the Prudential Regulation Authority, which supervises the insurance sector, and insurers as to how we can speed up implementation over the coming months," the newspaper quoted a Treasury source as saying. The Bank of England had already proposed easing Solvency II, a set of capital requirements for insurers inherited from the EU, but insurers want more capital released. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt in a speech last month said that reforms to the European Union's Solvency II rules will be implemented in the coming months, allowing insurers to invest more in the economy.

ION Group, the financial data firm's parent company, said in a statement on its website that the attack began on Tuesday. "The incident is contained to a specific environment, all the affected servers are disconnected, and remediation of services is ongoing," ION Group said, declining requests for further comment. ABN told clients on Wednesday that due to "technical disruption" from ION, some applications were unavailable and were expected to remain so for a "number of days". It added that its staff had to process trades directly with the exchange. Intesa Sanpaolo told clients that its brokerage and clearing operations on exchange-traded derivatives had been "severely hampered" by IT problems at ION and that it was not able to handle orders.

☆ British banking damaged by slow supervisors warns industry report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People walk over the Millennium Bridge with the City of London financial district in the background, in London, Britain, January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Britain's regulators can be slow, inefficient and unpredictable, raising costs and slowly damaging the financial sector's global competitiveness, industry body TheCityUK said in a report. Complex, opaque and slow authorisations, such as for a new chief executive or a new product, can discourage growth and investment, the report published on Thursday said. It said The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) were taking steps to speed up authorisations, but further action was needed. The Bank of England said it recognised the need to improve the timeliness of approving senior managers in particular and was taking steps in line with many of the recommendations.

☆ British bank TSB fined £48.65 million over IT platform migration failures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

British lender TSB has been fined £48.65 million ($59.07 million) over a botched IT platform migration in 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England said on Tuesday. The IT upgrade "immediately experienced technical failures", the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said, resulting in "significant disruption" to TSB's in-person, online and phone banking services. TSB was fined £29.75 million by the FCA and £18.9 million by the PRA, receiving a 30% discount by agreeing to settle the issue, the statement said. In a statement, TSB CEO Robin Bulloch apologised to consumers hit by problems during the upgrade. TSB's Spanish owner lender Sabadell said in a statement that the settlement would be accounted for by TSB in the fourth quarter.

LONDON/MADRID, Dec 20 (Reuters) - British lender TSB has been fined 48.65 million pounds ($59.1 million) over a botched IT platform migration in 2018, UK regulators said on Tuesday. The regulators found that TSB failed to organise and control the migration adequately, and failed to manage operational risks from its IT outsourcing setup. TSB was fined 29.75 million pounds by the FCA and 18.9 million pounds by the PRA, receiving a 30% discount by agreeing to settle the issue, the statement said. In a statement, TSB CEO Robin Bulloch apologised to consumers hit by problems during the upgrade. "Over the past four years, we have harnessed our technology to deliver new products and better services for TSB customers."

☆ UK’s Big Bang barely mitigates City’s Brexit pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hence Friday’s package, long trailed as a “Big Bang”, supposed to turbocharge the City. Eventually, he could end the regime if banks prove they can safely be wound down. Hunt’s broader push is to enlist the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority supervisors in his Big Bang, giving them a statutory responsibility for boosting the economy’s competitiveness. The only way to undo the damage would be to align with European rules indefinitely or to re-join the bloc, both of which are political no-gos. The government will also introduce new statutory objectives for the Financial Conduct Authority watchdog and the Prudential Regulation Authority, which supervises banks and insurers.

☆ Australian banking system cushioned for imminent climate change-related risks - regulator
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Potential economic downturns caused by climate change could pose risks to the loan books of Australia's top five banks without resulting in any severe stress to the system and the economy, a risk study conducted by the country's banking regulator showed. With global focus sharply pivoting towards climate change, banks have come under increased scrutiny for their ties with fossil fuel projects, prompting them to set goals to cut emissions and raise investments in clean energy projects. These banks have "predicted they would adjust their risk appetite and lending practices, such as cutting back on high loan-to-valuation lending and reducing exposure to higher risk regions and industries", the regulator said. APRA will now consider how the assessment could be applied to other regulated industries and climate-related challenges, it said. ($1 = 1.4948 Australian dollars)Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK banks’ Big Bang thankfully looks like big flop
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet, the mooted changes would probably only benefit middling lenders like Santander UK, Virgin Money (VMUK.L) and Banco Sabadell’s (SABE.MC) TSB Bank, according to the FT. And on Wednesday, the BoE’s supervisory body said it planned largely to stick to international bank-capital rules, dubbed Basel 3.1. But the big flop might not be such a bad thing for the country’s financial sector. Separately, the government’s City minister Andrew Griffith said on Nov. 29 that he wanted to relax the so-called ringfencing regime that forces large British lenders to separate their retail and investment banking arms. According to the Financial Times, the ringfencing regime would still apply to the biggest UK banks but there could be exemptions for lenders with limited trading operations including Santander UK, Virgin Money and TSB Bank.

The banks are now less conservative in counting expected rental income when assessing loan applications, said the four sources. In September, about a third of new bank mortgage lending was for investment. On Nov. 12, NAB will also halve its discount on rental income to 10%, including for Airbnb-like short-term rentals, the sources said. NAB, Westpac and ANZ trail market leader Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), which has a quarter of the mortgage market. Commonwealth continues to apply a rental income discount of 20% on mortgage applications, a sixth source said.

☆ Explainer: How are life insurers coping in LDI storm?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Carolyn Cohn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The focus of a gilt market storm has been around pension schemes' use of liability-driven investments (LDI), many of which are highly leveraged. Life insurers also use LDI strategies in their provision of annuities, which pay a fixed income for life. HOW HAVE LIFE INSURERS PERFORMED? Life insurers were more likely to have hedged their positions with physical financial instruments, rather than with derivatives, analysts say. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR LIFE INSURERS?

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