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☆ China Warns South Korea Not to Politicise Economic Issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

"China and South Korea have become cooperation partners with highly integrated interests and highly interconnected production and supply chains," Wang told South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout. "Both sides should jointly resist the tendency to politicise economic issues, instrumentalise science and tech issues, and the broad securitisation of trade issues." South Korea has sought to avoid becoming embroiled in a tit-for-tat row between China and the United States over semiconductors. "China is willing to jointly promote the restart of revamped trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan," Wang said on Sunday. In September, senior officials from the three countries agreed to arrange a trilateral summit at the "earliest convenient time".

Persons: Wang Yi, Wang, Park Jin, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Yoon Suk Yeol, Fumio Kishida, Biden, Laurie Chen, William Mallard Organizations: South Korean, South Korean Foreign, U.S, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, South Locations: BEIJING, China, South Korea, Korea, United States, Japan, Beijing, Washington, Tokyo, Seoul, Busan

☆ China warns South Korea not to politicise economic issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, right, talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi prior to a meeting in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. "China and South Korea have become cooperation partners with highly integrated interests and highly interconnected production and supply chains," Wang told South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout. "Both sides should jointly resist the tendency to politicise economic issues, instrumentalise science and tech issues, and the broad securitisation of trade issues." South Korea has sought to avoid becoming embroiled in a tit-for-tat row between China and the United States over semiconductors. "China is willing to jointly promote the restart of revamped trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan," Wang said on Sunday.

Persons: Park Jin, Wang Yi, Ahn Young, Wang, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Yoon Suk Yeol, Fumio Kishida, Biden, Laurie Chen, William Mallard Organizations: South Korean Foreign, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, South Korean, U.S, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, South, Thomson Locations: Busan, South Korea, Rights BEIJING, China, Korea, United States, Japan, Beijing, Washington, Tokyo, Seoul

☆ Italy raises $1 bln as reduces Monte dei Paschi stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NOVEMBER 2007 - MPS buys Antonveneta from Santander (SAN.MC) for 9 billion euros in cash, months after the Spanish bank paid 6.6 billion euros for it. JULY 2011 - MPS raises 2.15 billion euros in a rights issue ahead of European stress test results. JUNE 2014 - MPS raises 5 billion euros in a rights issue and repays the state 3.1 billion euros. JUNE 2015 - MPS raises 3 billion euros in cash after a 5.3 billion euro net loss for 2014 on record bad loan writedowns. It repays the remaining 1.1 billion euro state underwritten special bond.

Persons: Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Monday, MPS, JPMorgan, Treasury, Bank of Italy, Antonveneta, Italy's, ECB, EU Commission, Thomson Locations: Italy, Siena, Santander, Europe

☆ India’s fintech partygoers nurse a needed hangover
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MUMBAI, Sept 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s financial technology industry is suffering from overindulgence. And it was on full display at a sombre Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai last week. The South Asian country is the world’s third-largest fintech market by number of unicorns. Poster child Byju’s is squabbling with lenders as investors walk away and financial reports get delayed. Follow @ShritamaBose on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Global Fintech Fest organised by the National Payments Corporation of India and industry association Payments Council of India was held between Sept. 5 and 7 in Mumbai.

Persons: securitisation, ’, hesitatingly, Vishwas Patel, they’re, fintechs, Mukesh Ambani’s, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Founders, Boston Consulting Group, Venture, Reserve Bank, One97 Communications, FSN, Commerce Ventures, Innoven Triple Blue Capital, XV Partners, Financial, National Payments Corporation of India, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai, India, fintech, Sequoia Capital’s India, Southeast Asia, Rwanda, Japan, Germany, Peru

☆ Italy's bad loan proposal risks damaging crucial market, senior banker says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - A law proposed by the Italian prime minister's party to help those in arrears risks damaging the country's non-performing loan (NPL) market, which played a crucial role in helping banks offload sour debt, a senior banker active in the sector said on Friday. It aims to give borrowers the right to repay the original loan at a price equivalent to the ratio between the loan's gross nominal value and the average portfolio price, plus a 20% premium. Bossi said the measure could prompt foreign operators active in the sector to shift their focus from the Italian market. "This would be a damage for banks because it would reduce demand for their soured debt", the banker said. "We should keep in mind that Italian banks are now sound because the NPLs market helped the system offload some 350 billion euros of debts which went soured", he added.

Persons: Meloni's, Giovanni Bossi, Bossi, Elvira Pollina, David Holmes Organizations: Cherry Bank, Reuters, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ UK water meltdown resurrects bank crisis dilemmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The government may take over heavily indebted Thames Water, a hapless privately held utility unable to fund capital needs that may stretch to 10 billion pounds. Under Macquarie’s (MQG.AX) ownership, which lasted from 2006 to 2016, Thames’ debt rose to over 80% of RCV. They’re issued through a vehicle called Thames Water Utilities Finance. Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley resigned abruptly on June 27. Thames shareholders, led by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, committed in 2022 to provide 1.5 billion pounds of extra funds.

Persons: Ofwat, Rishi Sunak, Gordon Brown, Kemble, They’re, Sarah Bentley, “, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Royal Bank of Scotland, Thames, Ontario, Thames ’, Guardian, UK, RBS, Investors, Water Utilities Finance, Yorkshire Water, SES Water, Sky News, Thames Water, Thomson Locations: –, Thames, Yorkshire, Britain’s

☆ Credit Suisse has 'learnt nothing' from 2008 crash, London court told
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) was accused on Thursday of having "learnt nothing" from the 2008 financial crisis on the first day of a trial at London's High Court over residential mortgage-backed securities. The Jersey-registered company said in court filings that it bought the notes because of Credit Suisse's "false and dishonest representations" about their value. Loreley's lawsuit, which was filed in 2018, long pre-dates Credit Suisse's takeover by its rival UBS (UBSG.S) last month. However, Credit Suisse argued in court filings that the settlement with the DOJ "makes no reference to dishonesty, fraud, knowing misrepresentation or anything of that kind". Its lawyer Patrick Goodall added that, if Loreley is correct, "then it is not merely Credit Suisse which was running a wholly dishonest business – many of the allegations made against Credit Suisse were matters which were replicated across the entire industry".

By offloading some of the risk on their loans, the banks can significantly reduce how much capital they need to set aside to cover potential losses, according to law firm Clifford Chance. A bank can normally transfer risks of losses equivalent to around 7% to 12% of a loan portfolio, two market sources said. With synthetic structures, a bank transfers the risk via credit derivatives or guarantees but keeps holding the underlying exposures. The IFC sold BNP a $50 million guarantee on $1 billion of loans to emerging markets, they said, without disclosing terms. While Europe has been at the forefront for risk transfers, the stock of loans covered by SRTs is small relative to European banks' balance sheets.

☆ UK watchdog sets out plans to keep London a 'preeminent' financial centre
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As global competition to attract listings becomes tougher, and London competes with European Union centres like Amsterdam in share trading since Brexit, regulators face pressure to speed up financial reforms. Such reforms "will help ensure that the UK maintains its position as a preeminent financial centre". The FCA announced last month it was investigating competition in UK financial data, whose findings will shape how consolidated tapes are constructed. The FCA said last week that UK listings rules were facing a shake-up, as the City worries about listings shifting to New York. It is taking on new responsibilities, such as crypto markets, speeding up authorisations, and stepping up enforcement against scams.

☆ China tightens requirements on classifying banks' asset risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - China on Saturday tightened risk management requirements on banks, requiring them to classify financial-asset risks in a timely and prudent manner, in a bid to better assess lenders' credit risks. The rules will help "commercial banks evaluate credit risks more accurately and reflect the true quality of their financial assets," said the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC). The new rules, it said, will help prevent credit risks more effectively, the regulator said. Saturday's rules urge banks to scrutinise the underlying assets when they classify risks for asset management or securitisation products. Lenders will also be required to strictly abide by the rules when assessing credit risks in debt restructurings.

Rome has been working to renew the "GACS" scheme, which expired in June, while also tightening the terms under which the state provides guarantees to investors who buy bad bank loans repackaged as securities. Under the new terms agreed with the EU, the scheme would cover 80% instead of 100% of the least risky tranche in bad debt securitisation deals, the sources said. The Treasury had also considered hiking a credit rating threshold needed for the senior tranche to qualify for the GACS guarantees, but is instead leaving it unchanged, one of the sources said. Since its launch in 2016, the GACS scheme has rid Italian banks of 117 billion euros ($127 billion) in bad debts by softening the hit from disposals to their earnings. Italy had already tightened the GACS terms in 2019, raising the senior tranche's minimum rating and introducing mechanisms to prod debt collection companies to stick to business plans.

☆ Italy's Intesa convinces investors on payouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Investors fretted about the impact on earnings and the bank's ability to stick to generous capital distribution plans, starting with a pending 1.7 billion euro share buyback. Intesa has put the buyback on hold, despite receiving European Central Bank clearance, until approval of 2022 results on Feb. 3. In the fourth quarter, Intesa shed risks on 10.3 billion euros in loans through two so-called synthetic securitisation deals, including a jumbo 8 billion euro transaction. Market calculations put the cost of similar transaction at around 25 million-30 million euros a year for 2 billion euros in assets. Intesa also sold 4 billion euros in leasing contracts.

☆ Intesa reassures on capital distribution after asset risk worries hit shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shares in Intesa fell by 2% after Bloomberg reported Intesa was cutting as much as 20 billion euros ($22 billion) in risk-weighted assets to address supervisory remarks about its inadequate risk models. Intesa said the risk weighted asset (RWA) reduction it had carried out in the fourth quarter related to regulatory changes kicking in from Jan. 1, 2023 and its core capital would land at around 13% at the end of 2022. "We believe that the group is working on RWAs optimisation as well as rationalisation of capital usage in order to face regulatory headwinds (around 45 basis points already communicated) and continue the generous capital distribution that management had in the past." Il Sole said banks had taken action to avoid the capital hit by shifting to capital-light businesses, transferring risks to investors through so-called synthetic securitisation deals or shedding assets altogether. ($1 = 0.9232 euros)Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: UK sets out financial sector reforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Britain on Friday set out plans to overhaul the financial sector including a review of rules to make bankers accountable for their decisions and easing capital requirements on smaller lenders. Here are some of the measures announced:- Reforming the Ring-FencingRegime for Banks- Issuing new remit letters for the PRA and FCA with clear, targeted recommendations on growth and international competitiveness- Reforming securitisation regulation- Launching a Call for Evidence on reforming the Short Selling Regulation- Welcoming the PRA consultation on removing rules for the capital deduction of certain non-performing exposures held by banks- Overhauling the UK’s regulation of prospectuses- Committing to establish the independent Investment Research Review- Committing to having a regime for a UK consolidated tape in place by 2024- Consulting on reform to the VAT treatment of fund management- Consulting in Q1 2023 on bringing Environmental, Social, and Governance ratings providers into the regulatory perimeter- Consulting on a UK retail central bank digital currency alongside the Bank of England in the coming weeks- Publishing a response to the consultation on expanding the Investment Manager Exemption to include cryptoassets- Laying regulations in early 2023 to remove well-designed performance fees from the pensions regulatory charge capReporting by William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: How Britain is exploiting Brexit to reform finance?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Britain has already announced an easing of capital rules for insurers and is now turning to banks. Rules on prospectuses that companies give to investors when they list on an exchange will be overhauled, along with a reform of rules for securitisation. The government will act on recommendations from a review into improving how listed companies tap investors for fresh funds. The ratings are widely used by investors for picking companies which tout 'green' credentials, but they are not regulated. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, when he was finance minister, called for a "Britcoin" or digital pound for faster payments.

CompaniesCompanies Law firms Credit Suisse Securities (europe) Limited Follow(Reuters) - Credit Suisse can know who is behind a lawsuit accusing it of fraud in connection with the purchase of more than $100 million of notes, a London court ruled on Thursday. Credit Suisse declined to comment. But Credit Suisse contends that German state-owned lender KfW – which rescued IKB in 2007 and is said by Credit Suisse to be directing the litigation – knew enough about any alleged wrongdoing to bring a claim before 2012. 30 Limited v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited and others, CA-2022-001108. For Loreley: Tim Lord and Fred Hobson of Brick Court Chambers, and RPCFor Credit Suisse: Tamara Oppenheimer and Adam Sher of Fountain Court Chambers, and Cahill Gordon & ReindelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Credit Suisse begins perilous ride to right place
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After years of botched strategies, Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has finally hit the nail on the head. He’s also in exclusive talks with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and PIMCO about selling the securitisation business, which bundles and slices mortgages for credit investors. It could fall even further if Credit Suisse eventually hives off the carved-out dealmaking business it is rebranding as CS First Boston, under former Citigroup (C.N) rainmaker Michael Klein. Those moves solve the central problem that has plagued Credit Suisse for years, and which former CEOs Thomas Gottstein and Tidjane Thiam failed to answer. The deposit outflow saw Credit Suisse breach liquidity requirements set by regulators of its legal subsidiaries.

☆ How West can mobilise trillions to help save Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - War, inflation, debt, hunger, energy security and fear of recession will dominate the discussions at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week. America and a group of other countries have given the World Bank until December to come up with a plan. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe West has self-interested reasons to mobilise trillions of dollars to help the poorer nations of the so-called Global South transition from fossil fuels. But getting this money to flow to the Global South is tough because investors don’t think the returns on offer justify the risks. It is therefore encouraging that America and other leading shareholders have given the World Bank its marching orders and that Malpass has responded positively.

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