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☆ China's biggest state banks cut deposit rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, June 8 (Reuters) - China's biggest banks on Thursday said they have lowered interest rates on yuan deposits, in actions that could ease pressure on profit margins and reduce lending costs, providing some relief for the financial sector and wider economy. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (601398.SS), Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS), Bank of China Ltd (601988.SS) and China Construction Bank Corp (601939.SS) all cut their rates from Thursday, websites from each bank showed. The state-backed banks cut rates on demand deposits by 5 basis points and three-year and five-year time deposits by 15 basis points. China cut the RRR in March but has kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged this year, as widening yield differentials with the United States limited the scope for substantial monetary easing. Major state banks' net interest margins have shrunk following pressure to lower borrowing cost for individuals and businesses to stimulate the economy, and as credit demand remains subdued.

Persons: Gary Ng, Ng, Christopher Cushing, Sam Holmes Organizations: Industrial, Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp, Asia Pacific, United, People's Bank of China, CSI Banks, Beijing, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Asia, United States

☆ China's state-run banks cut deposit rates to stimulate sluggish economic growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Six Chinese state-run banks cut their deposit rates, Bloomberg reported. On Thursday, institutions such as Industrial & Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China lowered rates by 15 basis points for three-year and five-year deposits and by 10 basis points for two-year rates, Bloomberg reported. Additionally, on-demand deposit rates dropped by 5 basis points, falling to their lowest level since 1996, The Financial Times said. By lowering deposit rates, banks can expect reduced costs, leading towards diminished lending rates. But according to Bloomberg, expectations are rising of further policy changes that may incite economic growth.

Persons: — Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of, Financial Times, FT Locations: China, Bank of China

☆ Russia says it sees 'no prospects' for further grain deal renewal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 5 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday that it saw no prospects for extending the Black Sea grain export deal, which is set to expire in mid-July, Russian news agencies reported. TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying that it was continuing consultations with the United Nations, and that ship inspections had resumed. To help convince Russia to back the deal, a three-year pact was also struck last July in which the U.N. agreed to help Moscow carry out its food and fertiliser shipments. Russia has repeatedly threatened to quit the deal, complaining that obstacles still remain to its own exports of food and fertiliser. The agreement last came up for renewal on May 18 and Russia agreed at that point to extend it for 60 more days, to July 17.

Persons: Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: TASS, United Nations, RIA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Geneva, Turkey, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukrainian, Pivdennyi

☆ UN concerned by lack of grain ships going to one Ukrainian port
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Black Sea grain deal - brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July - allows for the safe export of ammonia and Russia has been pushing for the pipeline to be restarted. Russia agreed last week for the Black Sea pact to be extended for two months. The Black Sea grain deal ground to a halt last week as Russia decided whether to continue it. He noted that no fertilizers, including ammonia, had yet been exported under the Black Sea agreement. The Kremlin said on Monday that the EU's reluctance to reconnect Russia's state agricultural bank to SWIFT showed the bloc's "non-constructive stance" on the Black Sea grain deal.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, also urged allies not to fear that a tougher sanctions clampdown could drive some countries closer to Russia, describing such a worry as overblown. He was speaking in an interview from Kyiv as world leaders meet to discuss new sanctions measures and how to prevent Russia and companies in third countries from circumventing sanctions imposed after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. “We are grateful for all the support we have received from our allies and we have seen some positive signals on the latest sanctions packages under consideration," Vlasiuk said. Tinkoff and Rosselkhozbank have already been excluded from the SWIFT global payments system, but other banks have been subjected to full blocking sanctions. “Russian banks who provide financial services to Russian soldiers fighting an unlawful war of aggression on Ukrainian soil should face the toughest possible sanctions from our allies," Vlasiuk said.

☆ Factbox: What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 30 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Under the memorandum of understanding:- Russia agreed to continue commercial supplies of food and fertilizers and inform the U.N. of any impediments to such exports, including fertilizer raw materials like ammonia. Russia agreed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers from Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea ports.

☆ China’s New Hot Stocks Are State-Owned Banks and Brokers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Rebecca Feng | Cao Li | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bank of China’s shares are up more than 44% since the start of the year. Photo: Lam Yik/Bloomberg NewsWhile investors in the U.S. are fretting about bank stocks, over in China banks and brokers are among the market’s hottest trades. China Citic Bank ’s shares jumped 10% on Monday in Shanghai, the maximum daily rise permitted in mainland China’s market. Further gains on Tuesday took their increase to 15% this week, leading a rally in the sector that has also included sizable gains in Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China—all state-owned lenders.

[1/3] People walk past a branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Beijing, China April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Florence LoSummarySummary Companies Top five lenders post shrinking net marginsNon-performing loans hold steady at all fiveQ1 net profit growth mostly flatSHANGHAI/BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) - Five of China's largest lenders posted shrinking margins in the first quarter on Friday, as loan re-pricing bites. Following suit were Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (AgBank) (601288.SS), Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS), China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS), and China Construction Bank Corp (CCB)(601939.SS), all posting dips in their NIM. All lenders posted flat to around 5% net profit growth with BoCom logging the highest first-quarter net profit at over 5%. AgBank came in second with 1.75% as the others posted flat net profit growth over the same period.

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - Chinese banks are ramping up efforts to promote international use of the yuan, and reporting a surge in cross-border yuan business from the country's booming trade with Russia and deepening ties with the Middle East. Harbin Bank Co (6138.HK), in China's Heilongjiang province neighboring Russia, saw its cross-border yuan business grow nine-fold last year to a record, as the Sino-Russia trade grew briskly after the Ukraine war began. Industrial Bank Co (601166.SS), whose cross-border, corporate payment business jumped 50% last year, has also been actively promoting CIPS, China's own global payment system. The bank said it currently helps 153 foreign and Chinese banks connect to CIPS, to advance China's yuan internationalisation strategy. "Increasing the use of yuan in pricing, and settling cross-border oil and gas trade will give a boost to yuan internationalization."

☆ Russia demands full implementation of Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Only its full implementation can save the Black Sea grain deal from collapse, Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday, reaffirming Moscow's dissatisfaction with an accord that aims to prevent a global food crisis. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukrainian grain trapped by the conflict to be safely exported from the country's Black Sea ports. But Russia has repeatedly said it will not allow the deal to be extended beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports. Russia and Ukraine are major grain producers, but Moscow says parts of the deal that are meant to allow it to export its own agricultural goods via the Black Sea are not being honoured. One of Russia's main demands in negotiations is the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payments system.

UNITED NATIONS – The basic food security of tens of millions across the globe is hanging by a thread as Russia mulls whether it will preserve a deal that has permitted Ukrainian grain to move through the Black Sea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday renewed threats of abandoning the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement that allows the safe wartime export of agricultural products from besieged Ukrainian ports. Lavrov also said that the deal is currently one-sided since Russian fertilizers have not been able to transit the same way Ukrainian grain has. "It was not called the grain deal it was called the Black Sea Initiative and in the text itself the agreement stated that this applies to the expansion of opportunities to export grain and fertilizer," Lavrov told reporters during a press conference. Lavrov said there are dozens of Russian cargo vessels carrying some 200,000 tons of fertilizer stuck at European ports.

☆ What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 27 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. DEAL TO PROMOTE RUSSIAN FOOD AND FERTILIZER EXPORTSTo help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a separate three-year agreement was also struck in July last year in which the United Nations agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports. The United States has pushed back on Moscow's demands, saying "the only prohibitions on food and fertilizer exports from Russia are those imposed by the government" of Russia.

Under the pact to create a safe shipping channel, Ukraine has been able to export some 27.7 million tonnes of agricultural products, including 13.9 million tonnes of corn and 7.5 million tonnes of wheat. The leading destinations have been China (6.3 million tonnes), Spain (4.8 million) and Turkey (3 million). Ukraine's grain exports are forecast to fall in the 2023/24 season after the war has meant farmers planted less corn and wheat. The International Grains Council has forecast that Ukraine's corn crop will fall to 21 million tonnes, down from the prior season's 27 million, with exports expected to drop to 15 million tonnes from 20.5 million. CAN UKRAINE EXPORT MORE GRAIN THROUGH LAND ROUTES?

Summary Russia to West: remove obstacles to agricultural exportsLavrov: West should take UN proposals seriouslyLavrov: Ukraine may have to use land/rivers for exportsLavrov: Russia may work around Black Sea grain dealMOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) - Russia warned the West on Friday that unless obstacles to its exports of grain and fertilisers were removed, then Ukraine would have to export grain over land and Moscow would work outside the UN-brokered landmark grain export deal. The Black Sea grain deal is an attempt by the United Nations to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but was made worse by the most deadly war in Europe since World War Two. The deal, first signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN in July last year and twice extended, allows for the export of food and fertiliser, including ammonia from Ukraine's Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. If the West continued to refuse to remove the obstacles to Russian exports, Moscow would work around the grain deal, Lavrov said beside his Turkish counterpart at a news conference in Ankara. Since its signing, the 120-day grain deal has been extended twice, once in November and a second time in March, though Russia said the March extension was only for 60 days.

☆ 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.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Five big lenders post over 3.5% annual net profit growthNet interest margin shrank at all fiveNPL ratios steady or down for all fiveBEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China's Big Five lenders posted above 3.5% annual net profit growth this week, but warned that the foundations of the country's recovery were "not yet solid". China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS), and Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS) both posted just over 5% annual net profit growth on Thursday. Even higher figures came from the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS) (AgBank) on Thursday and China Construction Bank Corp on Wednesday, which both posted over 7% annual net profit growth. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS), , the world's largest listed lender by assets, came in at 3.5% annual net profit growth. NPLsWhile all five lenders posted steady or falling non-performing loan ratios, they also logged shrinking net interest margins (NIM), a key gauge of bank profitability.

The aim was to combat a global food crisis that was fueled in part by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade. The United Nations and Turkey said on Saturday that the deal had been extended, but did not specify for how long. [1/2] Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. Dujarric said on Saturday that the United Nations was strongly committed to implementing both the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and the pact with Moscow and urged "all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully." Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File PhotoWINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Netherlands-based Rabobank NA (RABOVR.UL) is aiming to grab 10-15% of the Canadian farm lending market within 15 years, as it aims to shake up a sector dominated by government and domestic banks, its new Canadian agricultural head told Reuters on Wednesday. It took Rabobank a decade before deciding to expand into Canadian farm lending, taking a methodical approach, Lieverse said. Rabobank expects Canadian farm lending to be profitable from the start and plans to announce hiring plans shortly, she said. Rabobank did not release its estimate of the value of the Canadian farm lending market, but government agency Statistics Canada pegged 2021 farm debt at a record-high C$129 billion ($96.1 billion), with chartered banks accounting for 37%. Farm Credit Canada, owned by the Canadian government, is the biggest agricultural lender, controlling a market share of about one-third, Lieverse said.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - China has ordered its top four state-owned banks to issue offshore loans to help developers repay overseas debt, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, rolling out its latest support measure for the cash-starved property sector. The regulators have given 'window guidance', or verbal orders that leave no paper trail, to the banks, setting a date of Dec. 10 by which to make the loans secured against domestic assets, two of the sources said. Funds received after the latest step will allow developers to repay offshore loans and dollar bonds in a bid to repair global investors' bruised confidence in the sector, two of the sources said. Each of the four banks, Bank of China (601988.SS), China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS), will pick several developers to fund, the three sources said. The People's Bank of China, the central bank, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Funds flowing from banks will allow developers to repay offshore loans and dollar bonds, helping to repair global investors' bruised confidence, two of the sources said. Each of the four banks, Bank of China (601988.SS), China Construction Bank (601939.SS), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS), will pick several developers to fund, the three sources said. The third source said that, while the big four banks preferred fresh lending to go to state-backed developers, they would have to include some private firms, which have a greater need for offshore loans. Chinese banks make offshore loans secured against domestic assets to companies that need foreign funds, but regulatory tightening in the last couple of years to rein in debt-fuelled empire-building by corporates hampered that kind of lending. China's central bank will also offer cheap loans to financial firms to buy bonds issued by property developers, separate sources have told Reuters.

☆ Three of China's largest lenders report over 6% rise in third quarter profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People stand at a booth of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Three of China's largest lenders posted third quarter profit rises of over 6% as non-performing loan ratios shrunk. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) (601398.SS), the world's largest commercial lender by assets, said net profit rose 6.8% year-on-year in the third quarter in a Friday filing. All three lenders posted slight falls in non-performing loan ratios in the third quarter. Both ICBC and AgBank posted NPL ratios of 1.4% for the end of September compared to 1.41% at the end of the quarter before.

☆ BNP Paribas gets regulatory nod to set up China asset management joint venture
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Selena Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Oct 18 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) has received Chinese regulatory approval to start building an asset management venture with Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) (601288.SS), the two companies said, allowing the French firm to tap a $4 trillion market. Reuters reported in September last year that BNP's asset management arm was in talks to form a wealth management venture with a unit of AgBank, taking advantage of China's opening up of its financial markets for foreigners. BNP Paribas Asset Management and ABC Wealth Management, a wealth arm of AgBank, will fund the new platform, according to Monday's filing. Since China deregulated financial markets in 2019, allowing foreign asset managers to set up majority-owned ventures with local banks, a flurry of foreign firms including BlackRock and Amundi have launched majority-controlled units locally. The new platform will add to BNP Paribas' 49%-owned asset management joint venture with brokerage firm Haitong Securities which mainly runs mutual funds.

☆ Big Chinese banks pledge enhanced support for economy as Xi sounds call for growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Oct 17 (Reuters) - China's six largest state-owned banks vowed they will enhance support to the slowing economy, in response to President Xi Jinping's call for a high-quality economic growth at the opening of a critical Communist Party Congress. Their pledges of support came after Xi opened the once-in-five-year party Congress in Beijing with a speech on Sunday morning in which he said China would aim for high-quality economic growth and will unwaveringly support the private economy. The world's second-largest economy narrowly avoided contracting in the second quarter, weighed by widespread COVID-19 lockdowns and the slumping property sector. During the third quarter, banks ramped up credit support to property industry, infrastructure sector and small- and midsized businesses. China's big state-owned banks are usually the quickest to respond to the government's policy directions.

☆ China trials cross-border settlement involving cenbank digital currencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationSHANGHAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A central bank digital currency trial focused on cross-border transactions has been completed, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said, with Chinese state-owned banks participating as Beijing tries to internationalise its digital yuan. More than 160 cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions totalling more than $22 million were made during the first trial involving four central bank currencies and real-value transactions, the BIS said in a statement. State media reported on Thursday that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China were among the 20 participating commercial banks. China has been testing its digital currency in major cities, mainly for domestic retail payments, though the central bank has also vowed to explore cross-border payments in digital yuan. Russia, sanctioned by the West over its war in Ukraine, has announced plans to use its own digital currency to trade with China.

☆ China's smaller banks cut deposit rates to ease margin pressure
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Several Chinese city commercial banks and rural commercial lenders have cut their rates on a range of deposits this week, according to statements released on the banks' websites. The smaller lenders followed in the footsteps of some of China's biggest state-owned banks, which implemented rate cuts earlier this month. Peiqian Liu, China economist at Natwest Markets, noted the commercial banks' deposit rate cuts are part of the monetary policy transmission mechanism after the central bank cut key policy rates in August. "This rate cut by commercial banks will help improve the profit margin slightly and is technically opening up more space for further (benchmark lending) rate cuts." Four of the five of China’s largest banks, except for Bank of China, reported falling net interest margins (NIMs) in the second quarter.

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