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Lenders wasted little time in charging more for loans when interest rates rapidly rose from an almost 15-year slumber around zero last year, but most have dragged their feet on boosting deposit rates paid to millions of their customers. Money market funds are proving popular among savers seeking bigger returns on their cash as high levels of inflation persist. Data from Refinitiv Lipper showed more than 34 billion euros ($37.6 billion) of net flows into European money market funds in March, the best-selling asset type that month. Fidelity International also reported an 8% year-on-year uplift in flows into money market funds on its investment platform between Jan. 1 and April 26. Some lawmakers have criticised banks for the mismatch between what they charge borrowers and the interest rates offered to savers.

☆ Austria's RBI Q1 net profit up better-than-expected 49%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBIV.VI), one of the banks in Europe most exposed to Russia, posted a bigger-than-expected 49% rise in profit in the first quarter. Net profit in the quarter was 657 million euros ($724.28 million), up from 442 million euros a year earlier, the bank said. Analysts had expected profit of 528 million euros, according to a consensus published by RBI. RBI provided the figures a day ahead of schedule with little explanation of drivers behind the earnings. ($1 = 0.9071 euros)Reporting by Tom Sims and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Swiss Re swings to bigger-than-expected net profit in quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - Reinsurance company Swiss Re (SRENH.S) said on Thursday that it swung to a net profit in the first quarter that was bigger than analysts had expected and was helped by higher prices and improved investment results. The period marks a recovery from a year earlier, which was damped by losses related to the war in Ukraine, jittery markets and the lingering pandemic. Net profit of $643 million in the period compares with a loss of $248 million a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $606 million, according to a consensus forecast. Reporting by Tom Sims, editing by Kirsti KnolleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ An experimental drug just showed it can help slow Alzheimer's, offering new hope for patients and a major boost to pharma giant Eli Lilly
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The pharma giant Eli Lilly said donanemab slowed cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer's. The news comes months after the FDA approved an Alzheimer's drug called Leqembi. On Wednesday, the pharma giant Eli Lilly said its experimental drug donanemab had successfully slowed cognitive and functional decline in patients with early-stage Alzheimer's, offering some hope to people with a condition that lacks good treatment options. In the trial, patients received donanemab until scans showed their brains were clear of those proteins, called beta-amyloid. Leqembi slowed the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients by 27% over 18 months in a late-stage study.

Fabrizio Campelli, who oversees Deutsche's investment bank, said it had been looking to grow its business in Britain. Deutsche Bank shares rose as much as 2.5% in early trade before erasing gains. MOVING INAs part of the deal, 35 Deutsche Bank corporate finance employees will move in with more than 300 London-based Numis staff. As part of its strategy, Deutsche Bank - a leading bank in Germany with strong European roots - said earlier this week that it aims to accelerate "growth initiatives" including potential acquisition of portfolios and assets. Britain is the largest investment banking market in Europe and Numis is a diversified investment bank with a UK franchise.

Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.158 billion euros ($1.28 billion). That compared with profit of 1.060 billion euros a year earlier, and was better than analysts' expectations for a profit drop to around 977 million euros. "We have worked hard to achieve this stability," Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing told employees in a memo. Revenue at the investment bank unit fell 19% to 2.7 billion euros in the first quarter from a year earlier. The investment bank's revenue decrease was countered by gains at the corporate bank and retail bank, which saw 35% and 10% increases.

FRANKFURT, April 26 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) is undertaking its biggest management shake-up since 2019, the German bank said on Wednesday as it announced the departure of Christiana Riley, who oversaw its U.S. operations. "It is time to focus the management board on the next phase of the bank's growth strategy, which is now more than ever about sustainable profitability, efficiency and effective controls," Wynaendts said. Riley was one of two women on Deutsche's 10-member board, which will now only consist of only nine people - eight men and one woman - in what Deutsche said would be a "leaner" team. Claudio de Sanctis, a Deutsche veteran who has overseen wealth management, will join the board to oversee the retail bank, Deutsche said. And Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke will take on oversight of asset management, which includes its DWS fund management business.

☆ Deutsche Boerse posts stronger-than-expected Q1 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, April 26 (Reuters) - German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) on Wednesday said it posted a 12% rise in first-quarter net profit, a better result than analysts had expected, and that it may exceed its forecasts for 2023. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 473 million euros ($522.05 million), up from 421 million euros a year ago, the company said. Analysts had expected a profit increase of nearly 10% and a revenue increase of almost 14%. Deutsche Boerse was rosy on its outlook, saying that 2023 earnings would be at the upper end of its projected forecasts or "even slightly exceed it." Those forecasts are for full-year revenue of 4.5 billion-4.7 billion euros and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 2.6 billion-2.8 billion euros.

☆ US troops rushed to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan, but thousands of Americans remain with advice to 'shelter in place'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US special operators evacuated American embassy personnel from Sudan, where intense fighting continues. Thousands of Americans, however, remain in country and have been warned to "shelter in place." The Washington Post reported Sunday that an estimated 16,000 Americans, many of whom hold dual citizenship, remain in Sudan, where they have been encouraged to "shelter in place." Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan on April 19, 2023. The officer noted though that 'tThis is an unfolding situation, and we cannot provide more details for security reasons."

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - All U.S. government personnel were evacuated from Washington's embassy in Khartoum, as well as a small number of diplomatic personnel from other countries, U.S. officials said on Saturday, as fighting rocks Sudan. The operation evacuated fewer than 100 people, the officials told reporters. "We evacuated all of the U.S. personnel and dependents assigned to Embassy Khartoum," said Under Secretary of State for Management John Bass. A substantial number of local staff remain in Khartoum supporting the embassy, where Washington decided to suspend operations on Saturday due to the security risks, Bass said. U.S. forces spent just an hour on the ground in Sudan before taking off again, entering and exiting Sudan without being fired upon by the warring factions on the ground, the military said.

PinnedThe United States military airlifted embassy officials out of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, amid continuing violence as rival military leaders battled for control of Africa’s third-largest country, President Biden said late on Saturday. (Mr. Godfrey — the first U.S. ambassador to Sudan in a quarter-century — arrived in the country about eight months ago.) They had lived in the same apartment buildings as some American diplomatic staff and arrived together at the embassy, he said. “I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage and professionalism and embodied America’s friendship and connection with the people of Sudan,” Mr. Biden said. Credit... Ebrahim Hamid/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesU.S. officials have said that about 16,000 American citizens were living in Sudan, many of them dual nationals.

☆ US and France evacuate diplomats from Sudan as battles rage on
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The belligerent parties must implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan," Biden said in a statement. It pits Sudan's army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who jointly staged a coup in 2021 but fell out during negotiations over a plan to form a civilian government and integrate the RSF into the armed forces. Saudi Arabia has already evacuated Gulf citizens from Port Sudan on the Red Sea, 650 km (400 miles) from Khartoum. Egypt, which has more than 10,000 citizens in Sudan, urged its nationals outside Khartoum to head to its consulate in Port Sudan, and to a consular office in Wadi Halfa on the border with Egypt, in preparation for their evacuation. It encouraged those in Khartoum to shelter in place and wait for the situation to improve.

☆ Amalgamated Bank's Growth for Good Strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAmalgamated Bank's Growth for Good StrategyFor over 100 years, Amalgamated Bank has offered banking solutions catered to the needs of marginalized groups. President and CEO, Priscilla Sims Brown explains how leaders can take a stand on social impact and ideological issues, like economic justice, gun violence, and renewable energy, while also meeting the needs of employees, clients, and stakeholders. And hear what she has to say about the backlash too.

[1/4] Law enforcement officers investigate the scene following an attack on bank ATMs in Ratingen, Germany, March 15, 2023. Courtesy of Achim Blazy/Handout via REUTERSRATINGEN, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) - In the German town of Ratingen, exploding cash machines are a hot-button topic. But in Germany, thieves are blowing ATMs up at the rate of more than one a day. Europe's largest economy has 53,000 ATM machines, a disproportionately high number that reflects Germans' preference for cash rather than bank cards. Germany is also working with officials in Belgium and France and at Europol to combat the cash machine crime wave.

☆ Hamburg police warn of possible toxins due to fire; 140 evacuated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, April 9 (Reuters) - Police and fire officials in the German city of Hamburg warned locals of possible toxins in the air after fires broke out early on Sunday at multiple storage facilities. Some 140 people were evacuated, and it is not yet possible to say exactly how dangerous the situation is, a police spokesperson said. REUTERS/Lutz Faupel 1 2 3Authorities said the fire began around 4 a.m. in Rothenburgsort, just a few kilometres southeast of central Hamburg, and that the smoke cloud was moving in the direction of the city centre. Reuters GraphicsMultiple police, fire and other emergency workers were at the scene as a thick cloud of dark smoke billowed upwards. Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chad orders German ambassador to leave the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

N'DJAMENA, April 8 (Reuters) - Chad's government ordered the German ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours, it said in a statement, a decision sources said was motivated by his comments about Chad's delayed transition to civilian rule after a 2021 coup. "This decision of the government is motivated by the discourteous attitude and the non-respect of diplomatic customs," the country's Communication Ministry said on Twitter late on Friday. Two Chadian government sources said on Saturday that Ambassador Gordon Kricke had criticised delays in holding elections after the coup, and a ruling last year that will allow interim military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby to run in elections in 2024. Military leaders in the Central African country originally promised an 18-month transition to elections when Deby seized power after his father, President Idriss Deby, was killed on the battlefield during a conflict with insurgents, ending decades of authoritarian rule. Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane, Tom Sims and Joel Honore Kouam; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"It cannot be that financial institutions are doing well because they treat their customers badly," Chan-Jae Yoo, a BaFin official, said in an interview. Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, an umbrella organisation that lobbies for German finance, said German banks are "extremely stable and robust" and confidence remains "high" and "unaffected" by recent turmoil stemming from the collapse of lenders in the United States and Switzerland. "The mere fact that consumers are increasingly asking us and seeking our advice is proof enough that they do not fully trust financial institutions," he said. Protections and rights for customers of financial institutions have come under increased scrutiny from regulators and the German courts. "We want services to establish themselves in the marketplace that meet consumer needs, not feed the financial industry," he said.

Uwe Oppitz of Rhenus Ports, who speaks for Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven, said that Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) (BASFn.DE), Uniper (UN01.DE) and Tree Energy Solutions (TES) plan to spend a total of more than 5 billion euros at Wilhelmshaven. Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven comprises 30 companies, which include E.ON (EONGn.DE), RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO), as well as Wilhelmshaven's home state of Lower Saxony. "Wintershall Dea plans to invest around 1 billion euros in the Wilhelmshaven site together with its partners," it said. And steelmaker Salzgitter (SZGG.DE) has already struck a deal with Uniper to receive green hydrogen for its steel mill processes, replacing essential fossil-fuel produced hydrogen. "We don't want to push green hydrogen to the side.

☆ Take Five: An uneasy calm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Kazuo Ueda takes over the helm at the Bank of Japan while U.S. bank earnings kick off and Switzerland's parliament debates the UBS-Credit Suisse tie up. 1/ BANKS' BOTTOM LINESThe uneasy calm that has settled over the U.S. banking sector after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will be tested as U.S. financials kick off their earnings season. S&P 500 earnings are predicted to fall 5.0%, I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv showed. Reuters Graphics5/ SPRING MEETINGSPolicymakers and investors head to Washington for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings starting on Monday. It will be the first meeting for Ajay Banga, U.S. nominee to run the World Bank and sole contender for the job.

[1/2] The landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. Russia has a 51% stake in Nord Stream 1 through a subsidiary of state-owned energy group Gazprom (GAZP.MM). While the import of Russian crude oil and oil products is banned under European Union (EU) sanctions, Russian gas imports are allowed. In September 2022, several unexplained underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and newly-built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, each more than 1,200-km-long, that link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea. Gazprom and Swiss-based Nord Stream AG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ 'FIFA' publisher EA to cut 6% of workforce, reduce office space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) said on Wednesday it would lay off about 6% of its workforce and reduce office space, making it the first major videogame publisher to announce job cuts. Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) announced a second round of job cuts this month. Video game sales so far this year were flat and spending on video game content across platforms is down 2%, according to analytics firm Circana. Newly launched "Hogwarts Legacy" game from Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) topped the videogame sales charts in February, according to Circana. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sriraj KalluvilaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Electronic Arts Says It Is Laying Off 6% of Workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Electronic Arts Inc. said it is laying off about 6% of its workforce and reducing its office-space footprint to focus its spending on the best growth opportunities in the videogame industry. The maker of hit franchises such as “Madden NFL” and “The Sims” didn’t specify how many people would be let go or from which departments. In the middle of last year, it said it had nearly 13,000 employees. That would translate into around 780 job cuts. The company said it plans to redeploy some of the affected employees to other areas.

☆ Electronic Arts lays off 6% of workforce in cost-cutting push
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Videogame publisher Electronic Arts (EA.O) said on Wednesday it will lay off about 6% of its workforce and reduce office space, joining a host of U.S. companies that have trimmed costs to cope with a rough economy. EA, which had about 12,900 staff as of March-end last year, expects to incur between $170 million and $200 million in charges related to its restructuring plan. Corporate America, especially companies from the technology and finance sector, are reining in expenses as they brace for a looming recession amid rising interest rates around the world. The company behind the "FIFA" soccer videogame franchise and "The Sims" also said it will move away from projects that do not contribute to its strategy. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'It's honestly changed my life': Employees from one of the biggest 4-day-workweek trials say working less improved their lives but was a big adjustment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Employees working four-day weeks told Insider having the extra day off was an adjustment at first. "It's hard to overstate how good it's been," Jo Sims, a senior case manager at AKA Case Management, told Insider, adding: "It's honestly changed my life." Sims said the extra day off had improved her mental health, eased her stress levels, and left her with a new perspective. The study was led by academics from Boston College, the University of Cambridge, and the research organization Autonomy in partnership with the campaign groups 4 Day Week Global and 4 Day Week Campaign. A representative for the 4 Day Week Campaign put Insider in contact with the four employees that are referenced in this article.

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