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European stocks (.STOXX) fell 0.2%, stepping back from a 2% gain in July, its second month of gains. UK stocks (.FTSE) edged up 0.1%, however, with HSBC (HSBA.L) climbing 2.6% after announcing a $2 billion share buyback and raising its key profitability target. Oil prices traded near a three-month high hit on Monday amid signs of tightening global supply. Also buoying prices were producers cutting output and demand in the United States, the world's biggest fuel consumer, remaining resilient. The U.S. dollar index - which measures the currency against six major peers - rose as high as 102.07 for the first time since July 10.

Persons: Sandrine Perret, Hong, HSI, Alec Jin, Tom Wilson, Kevin Buckland, Ankur Banerjee, Lincoln, Bernadette Baum Organizations: HSBC, LONDON, . Federal, Fed, Brent, Energy, BP, Bank of, Japan's Nikkei, Reserve Bank of Australia, U.S, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Unigestion, United States, London, Asia, Tokyo

HSBC (0005.HK) raised its near-term return on tangible equity goal to at least mid-teens for 2023 and 2024, from a previous target of at least 12% from 2023 onwards. It reported return on tangible equity of 9.9% for 2022. That reflected an environment where rising interest rates around the world are boosting lending income, while a global deal drought and volatile markets suppress revenues from investment banking and trading. The lender lifted its forecast for net interest income this year to be above $35 billion instead of $34 billion, although some analysts had looked for an upgrade nearer to $36 billion. ($1 = 7.7969 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Selena Li and Lawrence White; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Noel Quinn, Quinn, Selena Li, Lawrence White, Himani Sarkar Organizations: HSBC, Hong, HSBC Holdings, HK, Nationwide, Reuters, Sohar International Bank, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, HONG KONG, London, Britain, China, Asia, Oman, Russia, New Zealand

☆ HSBC launches up to $2 bln buyback on 235% first-half profit jump
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG, Aug 1 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) reported a 235% increase in first-half profit on Tuesday, as it benefited from rising interest rates around the world and the positive effects of its planned French unit sale. Europe's largest bank with a market value of $162 billion posted a pretax profit of $21.7 billion for the first six months this year, versus $9.2 billion a year earlier. The results were better than the $20.9 billion mean average estimate of brokers compiled by HSBC. The London-headquartered bank announced the second of a new cycle of buybacks, along with the results, of up to $2 billion, which starts immediately. Reporting by Selena Li and Lawrence White; Editing by Edmund KlamannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Selena Li, Lawrence White, Edmund Klamann Organizations: HSBC Holdings, HSBC, The, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, The London

☆ Morning Bid: August cools Wall St stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China's factory underperformance stood out once again and underlined its struggling recovery - perhaps the main driver of stalling industrial activity everywhere. With markets increasingly impatient at the patchy and underwhelming economic stimulus plans seen from Beijing so far, China stocks fell back (.CSI300), bucking Tuesday's wider Asia stocks rally. Sterling and UK stocks (.FTMC) fell back. Ride-hailing giant Uber's stock rose more than 2% before the bell and ahead of its earnings report. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Mike Dolan, underperformance, Austan Goolsbee, Goolbee, Stanley Black, Decker, Zimmer Biomet, Revvity, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S ., Chicago Fed, Bank of England, Sterling, AMD, Caterpillar, Big Pharma, Pfizer, Merck, Ride, HSBC, BP, Uber, Prudential Financial, AIG, Starbucks, Molson Coors, Boston Properties, Caesars Entertainment, Illinois Tool, Natural Resources, Energy, Devon Energy, Gartner, Allstate, Paycom Software, Electronic, WEC, Rockwell, Public Service Enterprise, P Global, Dallas Fed, Chicago Federal, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wall, Beijing, China, Asia, ., Marathon, Eaton, Altria, Marriott, Illinois, Progressive

☆ HSBC invites shy investors to turnaround party
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The turnaround Quinn launched shortly after taking charge of the London-headquartered bank in 2019 is gaining momentum. In the three months to the end of June, HSBC almost doubled its pre-tax profit to $8.8 billion compared with the same period last year. He’s catching up with market expectations, too, aiming for a return on tangible equity in the mid-teens and echoing Visible Alpha’s consensus numbers for 15% this year, and almost 14% next. Crucially, Quinn and his newish finance chief, Georges Elhedery, can focus on improving the bank’s performance with fewer distractions. All shareholders, though, clearly still need some convincing to join HSBC’s turnaround party in earnest.

Persons: Noel Quinn, Quinn, Georges Elhedery, Ping, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, HK, HSBC, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Ping An Insurance, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, London, Hong Kong, China, Asia, Europe, North America, Canada

☆ Exclusive: Banks vote to limit accounting of emissions in bond and stock sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Tommy Wilkes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Banks' accounting of these emissions will impact their targets for becoming carbon-neutral. The banks have also expressed concern about capital market-related emissions dwarfing their lending-related emissions, the sources said. The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), an association of banks seeking to harmonise carbon accounting across the industry, formed the working group comprising major banks in the hope that others will follow the standard that emerges. PCAF's board will now have the final say on whether to adopt the 33% accounting share for capital markets. A Standard Chartered spokesperson said the bank was comfortable with any emissions accounting threshold and declined to comment further.

Persons: Banks, Morgan Stanley, PCAF, ShareAction, Xavier Lerin, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Greg Roumeliotis, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Sierra Club, Carbon Accounting, Barclays, Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, BNP, NatWest, Standard Chartered, United Nations, Thomson Locations: London

LONDON/SYDNEY, July 31 (Reuters) - Commercial real estate investors and lenders are slowly confronting an ugly question - if people never again shop in malls or work in offices the way they did before the pandemic, how safe are the fortunes they piled into bricks and mortar? WALL OF DEBTGlobal banks hold about half of the $6 trillion outstanding commercial real estate debt, Moody's Investors Service said in June, with the largest share maturing in 2023-2026. U.S. banks revealed spiralling losses from property in their first half figures and warned of more to come. Borrowers in the UK real estate holding & development category were 4% more likely to default. But the whale could be commercial real estate in the U.S.".

Persons: Richard Murphy, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles, Henry Monchau, Bank Syz, Jones Lang LaSalle, Savills, JLL, Dhara Ranasinghe, Huw Jones, Clare Jim, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Employers, UK's Sheffield University, Reuters, Investors, Moody's Investors Service, Fed, Federal, Bank, Suisse, Washington D.C, HSBC, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: SYDNEY, London, Los Angeles and New York, U.S, New York, Beijing, San Francisco, Tokyo, Washington, Shanghai, North America, Hong Kong

☆ Banks to fuel boom in UK Plc regular dividend payouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The estimate from financial services company Computershare is 2.7 billion pounds higher than its April forecast and reflects improved profit prospects across the rate-sensitive industry. Computershare's latest quarterly Dividend Monitor showed bank payouts rose 61% on an underlying basis to around 7.8 billion pounds in the second quarter. The sector is set to raise headline payouts by over 3 billion pounds this year. That estimate is 1 billion pounds more than what it forecast three months ago. In the second quarter, UK dividends rose 3.5% on an underlying basis, but fell 9% to 32.8 billion pounds on a headline basis, it said.

Persons: Computershare, Rio, Danilo Masoni, Amanda Cooper, David Evans Organizations: MILAN, HSBC, Bank of England, Rio Tinto, Tobacco, Thomson

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 1.5% higher, extending gains to the fourth straight day. U.S. consumer prices advanced 3.0% in June - their smallest year-on-year increase since March 2021 - after 4% growth in May. Gains in the lenders lifted UK's FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) by 1.8%, leading gains among European peers and pushing the European banks index (.SX7P) up 1.9%. European shares have performed better than UK stocks so far this year, amid economic resilience and signs of cooling inflation in the euro zone, with focus now shifting to the upcoming earnings season. Data showed Spanish national consumer prices rose 1.9% in the 12 months through June, down from a 3.2% rise in the period through May.

Persons: Daniel Casali, Evelyn, Jefferies, Vincent Chaigneau, Matteo Allievi, Shreyashi Sanyal, Sohini Goswami, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S, Jefferies, Federal, Evelyn Partners, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Bank of England, Miners, ASM International, Infineon, Generali Investments, Air France, KLM, Deutsche Bank, Thales, Cobham Aerospace Communications, Spanish, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Gdansk, Amruta, Bangalore

Tucker told officials an "ice-breaking" spirit adopted by British businesses historically would help the UK and China overcome challenges and geopolitical tensions, a bank statement published on Wednesday said. HSBC will make key investments in its asset management arm in China this year, including launching new teams dedicated to green assets and fixed income, the first of the two sources and a third source with knowledge of the matter said. HSBC has stepped up expansion in China despite criticism from some lawmakers in the West of the bank's conduct in the region. HSBC said last week it was "open to opportunities" to expand its businesses in China, after its local partner put a 31% stake in its HSBC Jintrust Fund Management joint venture on the block. HSBC's green finance push builds on its acquisition of Hong Kong-based specialist asset manager Green Transition Partners in January, when the bank said it planned to grow its green infrastructure services across the Asia-Pacific region.

Persons: Mark Tucker, Tucker, Xi Jinping, HSBC's Tucker, Noel Quinn, Iain Withers, Sinead Cruise, Selena Li, Mark Potter Organizations: HSBC, Ping An Insurance, Morningstar, Beijing, Credit Suisse, UBS, Reuters, HSBC Jintrust Fund Management, Green Transition Partners, Hong, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Beijing, Asia, Western, West, Hong Kong, Pacific, London

Another source inside Barclays' investment bank, talking anonymously because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said lower staff attrition at its technology and back office operations had started to worry cost-conscious managers. The BCG review could lead to layoffs, the source familiar with the review said, although no decisions have been made. Some top Barclays investors, however, told Reuters they would have misgivings about a plan to prioritise investment over capital distributions. But a recent shake-up at its investment bank has raised concern about Barclays' ability to compete amid a worldwide dealmaking slump. They are not valued properly together," said Alan Beaney, chief executive at RC Brown Investment Management, which has held Barclays shares since 2012.

Persons: C.S, shivers, Richard Marwood, Venkat, Edward Bramson, Richard Buxton, Alan Beaney, Elisa Martinuzzi, Mark Potter Organizations: Barclays, Boston Consulting, Reuters, Royal London Asset Management, Lehman Brothers, Jupiter Asset, RC Brown Investment Management, BNP, HSBC, Reuters Graphics Barclays, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: U.S, Africa

☆ UK FTSE 100 at three-month low as rate hike worries grip; Currys slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) fell 1.2%, hitting its lowest level since March 24. Currys (CURY.L) tumbled 13.3% to its lowest level in more than 20 years after the electricals retailer reported a 38% slump in full-year profit. The commodity-heavy UK benchmark has been underperforming its peers this year amid volatility in resource prices over an uncertain global outlook. Among individual stocks, United Utilities (UU.L) climbed 1.8% after Morgan Stanley raised the water utility firm's rating to "overweight" from "equal-weight." Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: tanked, Chris Beauchamp, Beauchamp, Morgan Stanley, Shashwat Chauhan, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: United Utilities, P, FTSE, U.S, U.S . Federal, IG Group, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Prudential, CAB, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, U.S ., Bengaluru

☆ Bank of England considers clampdown on foreign bank branches- FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 4 (Reuters) - The Bank of England is looking at plans to force more international banks to set up subsidiaries in the UK, The Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The BOE is considering the plan as a part of a review of the collapse earlier this year of U.S. bank Silicon Valley Bank, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar. The move could reduce the thresholds requiring foreign banks with corporate business in the country to set up subsidiaries, the paper said. Nathanael Benjamin, the BOE's executive director for authorizations and international banks on Monday said the central bank will reflect on the threshold for a foreign bank branch to become a subsidiary. Following the collapse of its parent company in the United States, Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm was sold to HSBC (HSBA.L) in March to avoid disrupting its customers in Britain.

Persons: BOE, SVB, Nathanael Benjamin, Chandni Shah, Josie Kao, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Bank of England, The Financial Times, Valley Bank, HSBC, The Bank of England, Thomson Locations: U.S, London, United States, Silicon Valley, Britain, Bengaluru

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Canary Wharf may be in trouble once again. While CWG’s average tenancy agreement still has 10 years left, the risk is that itself and the wider Canary Wharf area slip into a vicious circle. Rental incomes on apartments are roughly on a par with offices, per square foot, according to a person familiar with the matter. The 45-storey skyscraper in Canary Wharf has been HSBC's home for more than 20 years. Canary Wharf Group, which runs the east London financial district, declined to comment.

Persons: Paul Reichmann’s Olympia, Morgan Stanley, CWG, Knight Frank, Hong Kong’s Cheung, Bear Stearns, that’s, Liam Proud, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Docklands, HSBC, York, Saudi Arabian, Canary Wharf Group, Barclays, Estates, Brookfield Property Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, Brookfield, Canary, QIA, Moody’s, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Hong Kong’s Cheung Kei Group, Churchill, NYK, Transport, BT, Thomson Locations: London, Canary, Canadian, Saudi, U.S, Brookfield, That’s, Docklands, Stratford, Wharf, QIA, Canary Wharf, Europe's

☆ UK's FTSE 100 edges higher on mining boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SummarySummary Companies FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%July 3 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 gained on Monday led by mining stocks on higher metal prices, while shares of other Chinese-exposed firms gained on rising hopes of more policy support in the world's second-largest economy. By 0715 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.2%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index (.FTMC) rose 0.3%. Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) advanced 1.3% as prices of base metals rose, buoyed by improved sentiment. China-exposed banks HSBC (HSBA.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) rose 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively, while insurer Prudential (PRU.L) added 0.9% as hopes of more policy support grew after another weak data point and commentary from Chinese officials. Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Drugmaker, Shashwat Chauhan, Rashmi Organizations: HSBC, Standard Chartered, Prudential, Drugmaker AstraZeneca, Thomson Locations: China, Bengaluru

☆ UK banks asked by lawmakers if they're 'exploiting' savers with low rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - British banks faced fresh criticism on Monday for the savings rates they offer to cash-strapped customers, in the latest intervention by parliament's influential Treasury Select Committee. British banks have come under pressure from lawmakers and consumer campaigners for not passing on the extent of higher Bank of England rates to savings customers. Finance minister Jeremy Hunt also said last week banks were too slow to pass on increases in central bank rates to savers and that the problem needed to be resolved. Top executives from the banks were grilled by the Treasury committee on savings rates during a session in February. "Savings rates have increased and we always encourage people to shop around for the product and interest rate that is suited to their needs," the spokesperson added.

Persons: Harriett Baldwin, Jeremy Hunt, Baldwin, Iain Withers, Jason Neely, David Holmes Organizations: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Bank of, Treasury, Finance, Financial, Authority, Thomson

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 0.1% higher, snapping its six-day losing streak. "Markets are expecting either the data to improve from China or stimulus to increase from the government. "This realization is dawning among investors yet again, that the inflationary fight is far from over." The healthcare sector has been declining in recent weeks and is down nearly 2.9% so far this month. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar, Siddarth S and Matteo Allievi in Gdansk; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Sonia Cheema, William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: ECB's Lagarde, Christine Lagarde, Li Qiang, Giles Coghlan, Susannah Streeter, Hargreaves Lansdown, Streeter, Goldman Sachs, Amruta Khandekar, Siddarth, Matteo Allievi, Rashmi Aich, Sonia Cheema, William Maclean Organizations: European Central Bank, HSBC, Prudential Plc, Hargreaves, Siemens Energy, Thomson Locations: China, Russia, U.S, Gdansk

[1/2] The HSBC headquarters is seen in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London February 15, 2015. The ripple effects of so many companies slashing office space has significantly impacted wider markets. 'GENIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE'HSBC for its part has one of the most aggressive targets to cut office space among major employers, with a commitment to axe around 40% globally. Canary Wharf Group, the Docklands commercial landlord, declined to comment. One of the Canary Wharf estate's newer developments, the YY building - a recently completed redevelopment of Thomson Reuters' former headquarters opposite Canary Wharf station - remains vacant, Bloomberg has reported.

Persons: Peter Nicholls, Tony Travers, Travers, Knight Frank, Weil, Gerardine Davies, HSBC's, Moody's, YY, Andrew Mawson, Iain Withers, Chiara Elisei, Sinead Cruise, Paul Sandle, Mark Potter Organizations: HSBC, REUTERS, Companies, London School of Economics, of, Perenna Capital Management, BT, UBS, City of London Corporation, Canary, Canary Wharf Group, Docklands, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Workplace Associates, Employees, Thomson Locations: Canary, London, St Paul's Cathedral, of London, Real, Sweden, Aldgate, City, Swiss, Docklands, Canary Wharf

The two pilots, however, would allow extensive information sharing between banks on large-scale financial crime, expand public-private data sharing initiatives and set up a similar platform to Britain's national fraud database for serious economic crime. The pilots could be formally launched by October when Britain's economic crime and corporate transparency bill, currently on its way through parliament, is expected to become law. This legislation aims to protect regulated firms from confidentiality rules if they share information to tackle economic crime, giving them the leeway to ramp up data sharing. One financial crime investigations lawyer, who declined to be named because of client sensitivities, said that information-sharing needed appropriate safeguards. The NCA told Reuters it was discussing the data sharing pilot with a number of banks to try and identify "actionable intelligence".

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Banks, Simon Fell, Iain Withers, Kirstin Ridley, Sinead Cruise, Jane Merriman Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Lloyds, NatWest, Reuters, HSBC, Barclays, Crime Agency, UK Finance, Home Office, NCA, Thomson Locations: Russia, Britain, Ukraine

☆ Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Simon Jessop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic. Once full, it will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility. The pilot project, which will run for an initial six months, will allow customers to recycle any plastic card, including those from rivals. Currently, Mastercard said it has around 3.1 billion cards in circulation. Each year, it estimates around 600 million cards are produced by the industry, each with a life span of around five years.

Persons: Ajay Bhalla, Jose Carvalho, Nilson, Simon Jessop, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: HSBC Mastercard, Payments, Mastercard, Wednesday, HSBC Holdings Plc, Mastercard Inc, HSBC, HSBC UK, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ Bahrain's Investcorp seeks to raise up to $600 mln from investment vehicle IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Hadeel Al Sayegh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, June 20 (Reuters) - Middle East alternative asset manager Investcorp Holding is seeking to raise up to $600 million from the listing of an investment vehicle in Abu Dhabi this year, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Bahrain-based Investcorp is making preparations for a potential public share sale of Investcorp Capital, registered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the international financial centre in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Investcorp is working with Goldman Sachs (GS.N), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) (FAB.AD), Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU) and HSBC (HSBA.L) on the plan, the people said. Bloomberg in March reported Investcorp was putting together a plan to list the vehicle. Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Company acquired 20% of the firm in 2017.

Persons: Investcorp Holding, Goldman Sachs, Investcorp, Emirates NBD, Gucci, Mohammed Al Ardhi, Hadeel Al Sayegh, Jason Neely Organizations: Reuters, Investcorp, Abu Dhabi Global Market, United, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates, HSBC, Moelis, Bloomberg, FAB, Tiffany, Nasdaq, Mubadala Investment Company, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, United Arab, Abu, Emirates, U.S, Europe, India, Singapore, Beijing, Mumbai, Delhi

☆ US banking regulator seeks bids for Silicon Valley Bank's German assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. banking regulator is seeking bids for the sale of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank's German assets, according to a Thursday notice posted on its website. The regulator said it will open the German branch's data room to eligible bidders on June 20, adding that participants must hold lending authorization in Germany. This comes in the wake of reports last week from local German media, which said that SVB's German branch was in search of a potential buyer. In March, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank was granted permission by German financial regulator BaFin to conduct its lending business through its SVB Germany branch. HSBC (HSBA.L), which acquired the UK arm of SVB, has been floated as a potential buyer, according to media reports.

Persons: BaFin, Niket Nishant, Akriti Sharma, Krishna Chandra Eluri Organizations: U.S, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Bank, HSBC, Financial, Thomson Locations: U.S, Frankfurt, Berlin, Germany, Silicon, Bengaluru

The housing market has totemic importance in Britain's consumption-driven economy and is closely linked to consumer confidence. The average mortgage rate on new two-year mortgage deals rose on Wednesday to 5.90%, according to property data provider Moneyfacts - the highest since December last year, in the aftermath of the mini-budget. "It takes a far lower mortgage rate to create the same amount of financial stress in terms of repayments as a double-digit mortgage rate did back in previous periods," Hudson said. Reuters GraphicsSTRESSThe question now is how mortgage market stress will feed through into the real economy. Jamie Lennox, director at broker Dimora Mortgages, said there was "no end in sight" for the trouble in the mortgage market.

Persons: Hannah McKay, Liz Truss, We're, Neal Hudson, Hudson, Jamie Lennox, shivers, BoE, Philip Shaw, Lucy Raitano, Iain Withers, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of England, Investors, HSBC, Reuters, Financial, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, BoE's

☆ HSBC, StanChart face pressure from Hong Kong to take on crypto clients - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] An attendant walks outside the entrance to Hong Kong Monetary Authority in Hong Kong, China November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Bobby YipJune 15 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) are among lenders facing pressure from Hong Kong's banking regulator to take on crypto exchanges as clients, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The UK-based lenders and the Bank of China were questioned by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) last month on why crypto exchanges were not being accepted as clients, according to the report. HSBC, Standard Chartered and the HKMA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comments. The HKMA, in a letter to lenders on April 27, said diligence on potential customers should not "create undue burden", especially "for those setting up an office in Hong Kong," the FT report said.

Persons: Bobby Yip, Hong Kong's, Rahat Sandhu, Rashmi Aich, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Hong Kong Monetary Authority, REUTERS, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Financial Times, Bank of, U.S, Securities and Exchange Commission, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, Hong, Bank of China, Bengaluru

☆ UK's Nationwide readies another increase in fixed mortgage rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Nationwide Building Society (NBS.L), one of Britain's largest mortgage lenders, will raise fixed rates on mortgages offered via brokers by up to 0.7 percentage points on Friday, it said in an email to intermediaries. "This includes rates across our New Business, Switcher, Additional Borrowing and Existing Customer Moving Home ranges," the email said. The quoted rate offered by Nationwide on a 2-year fix for new borrowers, available for a 999-pound ($1,267) fee, will rise on Friday to 5.69% across most loan-to-value ratios, from 5.24% currently. Earlier this week, HSBC (HSBA.L) also announced a shake-up in its mortgage line, with higher rates taking hold on Thursday. ($1 = 0.7885 pounds)Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andy Bruce, Sachin Ravikumar, Kylie MacLellan Organizations: Building Society, New, Nationwide, Bank of England, HSBC, Thomson

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