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☆ 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

☆ HSBC to close New Zealand wealth and personal banking business
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 13 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) has decided to wind-down its wealth and personal banking business in New Zealand, the bank website showed on Tuesday. The move comes after the London-listed bank last year said it was reviewing its retail banking business in New Zealand with a view to selling it. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mrinmay Dey, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: HSBC, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, London, Bengaluru

An appellate authority at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued the so-called show cause notices under India's foreign exchange laws for alleged illegal remittances of 55.51 billion rupees ($673.2 million). India alleges Xiaomi's local unit made illegal remittances to foreign entities by passing them off as royalty payments. The notices were issued to Xiaomi and officials including the chief financial officer of its India unit, the ED said in a statement. The banks received notices because they allegedly allowed foreign remittances described as royalty payments without conducting due diligence and obtaining necessary documentation, the agency added. Court documents show Xiaomi's frozen assets are spread across accounts at various banks including Deutsche, Citi and HSBC.

Persons: Xiaomi, Aditya Kalra, Shubhendu Deshmukh, Shounak Dasgupta, Jamie Freed Organizations: HK, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Citigroup, Reuters, Deutsche, Citi, Samsung Electronics, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India

[1/4] Li Yunze, director of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), speaks at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, China June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Jason XueSHANGHAI/BEIJING, June 8 (Reuters) - China is open for investment, the country's top financial regulators told foreign financiers at a high-profile forum in Shanghai on Thursday, as concerns mount among foreign firms that they may no longer be welcome. "Opening up is China's long-term national policy, and the door of China's financial industry will only be opened wider and wider." Yi Huiman, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told forum participants that China will "adamantly" push for deregulation in terms of market access, institution qualification and products. Internal circulation will be supported by "external circulation," as in foreign financing and China's interactions with the global economy.

Persons: Li Yunze, Jason Xue, Goldman Sachs Group's, David Solomon, Tesla's, Elon Musk, Xi, Merrill Lynch, Li, Jane Fraser, Yi Huiman, Noah Fraser, Yi, Joe Cash, Shri Navaratnam, Edmund Klamann, Kim Coghill Organizations: China's, Financial Regulatory Administration, REUTERS, HSBC, Credit Agricole, Mizuho Financial, Paypal, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Canada China Business Council, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Jason Xue SHANGHAI, BEIJING, U.S, flashpoints, Ukraine, South, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Russia, Mongolia

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) is studying options for its global payments activities as a part of broader review into how it allocates resources, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Barclays has already engaged at least one major consultancy firm and may hire others to split assignments, this person said. "Our three businesses continue to perform well and our business mix is robust - growing our global payments business is a priority for us," a Barclays spokesperson said. The payments study comes as Barclays had also drafted Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to conduct a strategy review of the entire banking group, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. How the bank should allocate resources between more predictable retail business and volatile returns from the investment bank has attracted investor scrutiny.

Persons: Amy, Jo Crowley, Pablo Mayo, Stefania Spezzati, Lawrence White, Alexander Smith Organizations: Barclays, Reuters, Britain's, Barclaycard, Boston Consulting, Bloomberg, BNP, HSBC, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Thomson Locations: London

☆ HSBC to rename British arm of Silicon Valley Bank next month- Sky News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 29 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) is set to announce next month that the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank will be renamed HSBC Innovation Banking, Sky News reported on Monday. The British government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of SVB UK to HSBC in March, in a move which would protect deposits without taxpayer support. Startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group became the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. SVB is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings after California's regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. The regulators then agreed to backstop a deal for regional lender First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA.O) to acquire Silicon Valley Bank.

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed long-running litigation by investors who accused HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) of conspiring to fix silver prices. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said the investors lacked legal standing to pursue federal antitrust claims under the Sherman Act, or claims under the federal Commodity Exchange Act. Investors had accused HSBC, Scotiabank and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) of manipulating silver prices from 2007 to 2013, saying they had "smoking gun" evidence of a price-fixing conspiracy among those banks and several other silver market makers. The judge also said the investors were not "efficient enforcers" of their private antitrust claims, unlike people who might have sold silver at the Fix price. The cases is In re London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

May 22 (Reuters) - First Citizens BancShares Inc (FCNCA.O), which acquired Silicon Valley Bank following its collapse, sued HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.L) on Monday, accusing it of poaching more than 40 of the failed bank's employees in order to launch its own U.S. venture banking business. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court says HSBC violated federal law by hiring away the workers so it could gain access to Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) trade secrets including information about clients in the tech and healthcare sectors. First Citizens in the lawsuit said it is seeking more than $1 billion in damages. First Citizens later in March purchased SVB's assets and deposits for up to $500 million in stock - a fraction of what the bank was worth before it failed. In April, HSBC had said it had hired dozens of Silicon Valley Bank employees to help the bank establish a dedicated practice focused on serving companies in technology and healthcare and investors who support them.

☆ G7 agreed global financial system resilient but needs vigilance, Japan finmin says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, Joachim Nagel, President of Germany's federal reserve... Read moreNIIGATA, Japan, May 13 (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central banks from the Group of Seven rich nations agreed the global financial system is resilient but the need for vigilance remains, Japan's finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Saturday. "We reaffirm that our financial system is resilient, supported by the financial regulatory reforms implemented after the 2008 global financial crisis, including considerable increases in the levels of bank capital and liquidity, an international framework for effectively resolving failing institutions, and strengthened cross-border regulatory and supervisory cooperation," it said. British finance minister Jeremy Hunt told reporters at a separate event that G7 finance chiefs in Japan had "very frank and open discussions" about the challenges they face, including banking regulation. The ministers have wrapped up a three-day meeting in the Japanese city of Niigata. Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Leika Kihara; Writing by David Dolan Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Sembcorp, which is 49.3% owned by Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings, has hired HSBC (HSBA.L) to run the sale of SembWaste, according to the sources. First-round of non-binding bids are due by early June, said one of the sources, declining to be named as the matter is private. Last year, SembWaste's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was S$50 million ($37.75 million), one of the sources added. Last year, Singapore's asset manager Keppel consortium bought a 80% stake in environmental services firm 800 Super Holdings for S$304 million. SembWaste is one of three public waste collectors appointed by Singapore's National Environment Agency to provide waste and recyclable collection services to residential, schools and trade premises in the city-state, according to its website.

☆ Exclusive: HSBC reaches deal to buy out China fund partner -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Selena Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 8 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) has agreed to buy out its China fund management joint venture partner, two people familiar with the matter said, as the Asia-focused bank pushes ahead with expansion in the world's second-largest economy. HSBC, which currently owns a 49% stake in HSBC Jintrust Fund Management, has signed an agreement with Shanxi Trust under which the Chinese state-owned company will sell its 51% holding in the joint venture to the bank, said the sources. Representatives for Shanghai-headquartered HSBC Jintrust and Shanxi Trust did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HSBC's move to boost its stake in the fund venture is the lender's latest to expand its presence in China. The London-headquartered bank converted its China insurance joint venture to a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2021, and boosted ownership of its China securities joint venture to 90% last year.

☆ HSBC faces down protests on strategy, climate at annual meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BIRMINGHAM, England, May 5 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) faced down opposition to its strategy and climate policy at a fractious annual investor meeting in Birmingham in England on Friday, including a shareholder proposal to spin-off its lucrative Asia business backed by major investor Ping An. Shareholder Lui questioned HSBC's board directly at the meeting on Friday, prompting the bank's chairman Mark Tucker to say criticism of the bank's performance showed "a fundamental misunderstanding of HSBC's business." HSBC's Tucker told the meeting that any break-up of the bank would undermine its global strategy and dent its revenue, repeating the bank's argument that it would be risky and costly. "So it would not be in shareholders' interests to split the bank," Tucker said. Like Barclays' investor meeting earlier this week, HSBC's event was repeatedly interrupted by climate campaigners singing songs, while one protester stood up at the front of the hall with a banner reading 'No more dirty coal'.

SummarySummary Companies Investors seeking more information on thermal coal plansGlencore calls on shareholders to reject resolutionLGIM's Marks says 'fundamental lack of willingness to engage'LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Investors pushing for more transparency on miner Glencore's (GLEN.L) thermal coal production said its decision not to support a shareholder resolution on the topic showed a "fundamental lack of willingness to engage". Unlike its peers, Glencore mines and trades thermal coal, the fossil fuel used to generate electricity. It has said it plans to responsibly run down its coal mines by the mid-2040s, closing at least 12 by 2035. "There is a fundamental lack of willingness to engage," said Michael Marks, LGIM's Head of Investment Stewardship and Responsible Investment Integration. Just 24% of investors voted against Glencore's climate progress report at the miner and trader's 2022 AGM, with some citing slow progress in scaling back coal production.

☆ HSBC poised to see off Asia spinoff threat at crunch shareholder vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BIRMINGHAM, England, May 5 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) is expected on Friday to defeat a proposal by Hong Kong-based investors, backed by its biggest Asian investor Ping An, which calls for the lender to consider spinning off its Asia business. HSBC has asked investors to vote against the proposals, saying they would destroy shareholder value, and so far no other big institutional investors have signalled they are in favour. Lui said he was only able to disclose he had met with Ping An and that they were supportive. HSBC tripled its profit in the first quarter as rising interest rates boosted its income, paying its first quarterly dividend since 2019. Reporting By Lawrence White, Additional reporting by Iain Withers, Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The visit is Dimon's first to mainland China since the pandemic gathered pace in 2020 and closed the world's second-largest economy for almost three years as it enforced some of the world's most stringent restrictions. He will also visit Hong Kong in early June after the Shanghai trip, two of the sources added. Dimon visited the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong to meet the bank's staff and clients in November 2021. A JPMorgan spokesperson in Hong Kong declined to comment on Dimon's visit to mainland China and Hong Kong. Reporting by Julie Zhu in Hong Kong, Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ HSBC defeats Asia spin-off proposal at investor meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest bank HSBC (HSBA.L) defeated a resolution from Hong Kong-based shareholders and backed by major investor Ping An to potentially spin-off its lucrative Asia business, the bank's chairman Mark Tucker said on Friday. Tucker told investors at the end of the annual investor meeting held in Birmingham in England that shareholders had backed the board in all resolutions. The special resolutions submitted by individual investor Ken Lui recommending the bank boost dividends and review its strategy were both defeated, Tucker said. A HSBC spokesperson said that apart from Ping An, none of the bank's top 50 shareholders voted against the board and a "strong majority" of retail shareholders also backed the lender. "The overwhelming majority of shareholders, excluding Ping An, have voted to draw a line under the debate on the structure of the bank," the spokesperson added.

☆ HSBC vote gives Ping An a fresh shove towards exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) is having an underwhelming week. Instead, HSBC’s results were decent and the AGM resolution was crushed. True, 20% of votes cast went in favour of plans for a strategic review each quarter which could assess whether to spin off HSBC’s key Asian arm, and to reinstate the bank’s pre-Covid dividend. Ping An could continue to chunter away at HSBC boss Noel Quinn from the sidelines. Throw in the lack of investor support implied by the vote, and Ping An’s essential choice – to pipe down or to sell its stake – has become ever more stark.

☆ HSBC to raise Hong Kong best lending rate to 5.75%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG, May 4 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) will raise its Hong Kong dollar best lending rate from 5.625% to 5.75% with effect from Friday, the bank said in a statement on Thursday, following the territory's central bank hiking its base rate by 25 basis points. Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ It’s time HSBC’s top owner calms down or sells up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Sticking around as a noisy unhappy owner with an 8% stake, though, risks hurting itself, HSBC and maybe even Hong Kong. A vote on Friday at HSBC’s annual meeting will test whether Ping An has garnered much support for its stance. A second resolution from the group wants the pre-Covid dividend reinstated and paid at not less than that level each year. Chances are both resolutions will pick up some votes, the latter especially from retail shareholders who globally between them own about one-third of the bank. If any large institutional investment houses join the Chinese group, it will be a blow to HSBC boss Noel Quinn.

☆ Stocks ease; Aussie dollar soars after surprise hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"No one is going to want to do too much before we get to that FOMC decision. "One of the things that sticks out to me is that they're still saying they might need to increase interest rates," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist Joe Capurso. "So as well as the increase today, that's supporting the Aussie dollar," he said. The U.S. dollar was steady against a basket of major currencies , while the euro eased 0.1% to $1.097. But markets are still anxious about what may be the next crisis, even if the initial response has been positive.

HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. HSBC said the planned $10 billion sale, originally slated to be completed by the end of this year, will now only likely go through in the first quarter of 2024. HSBC reported deposits fell 0.6% to $1.6 trillion, excluding those it acquired by bailing out the UK arm of failed U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank and the reclassification of French retail deposits. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, which analysts were anticipating. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said the results showed its strengths in a rising rate environment, and played down the risks of further contagion for the banking sector. HSBC posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. The profit was much higher than the $8.64 billion average estimate of 17 analysts compiled by the bank. Despite the surging profit, HSBC did not raise its key performance target of reaching a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from this year onwards, while analysts were estimating the key metric would be lifted. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) reported on Tuesday a better than expected tripling of quarterly profit, as rising interest rates worldwide boosted the lender's income and helped it pay a first quarterly dividend since 2019. Europe's largest bank posted a pretax profit of $12.9 billion for the first quarter ended March, versus $4.2 billion a year earlier. The results were better than the $8.64 billion average estimate of 17 analysts compiled by HSBC. It announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, its first quarterly dividend since 2019, following calls of shareholders to increase the dividend payout. Reporting by Selena Li ing Kong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Volatile news, not markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While the Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise interest rates again on Wednesday, the move could be its last. So in a holiday-strewn month around the world, the VIX (.VIX) - Wall St's so-called 'fear gauge' of the implied stock market volatility for the month ahead - hit its lowest level on Monday since November 2021. Even though it ticked back up a bit above 16 overnight, it remains three full points below its 33-year historical average. For macro markets, the Fed decision is complicated by the debt ceiling and banking backdrop. March job openings numbers later on Tuesday will give an indication of just how tight the labor market remains.

The Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused bank had previously set a 2030 target to reduce the emissions 'intensity' of loans to the sector by 30% from 2020 levels. Emissions intensity measures carbon emissions as a percentage of business activity, such as revenue. As a result, carbon emissions can increase in absolute terms even when emissions intensity goes down, because businesses can become more efficient in reducing emissions and still emit more in total when their activity goes up. Banking peers that have adopted an absolute emissions reduction target include HSBC(HSBA.L) and Citi (C.N), as well as a number of smaller banks. "Setting this absolute sector target and supporting our clients in their transition journey are critical sustainability priorities for Standard Chartered," Chief Sustainability Officer Marisa Drew said.

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