Banking

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — Nedbank Group Ltd. expects to resume dividends this year after joining rival Absa Group Ltd. in scrapping payouts for 2020, with the South African bank likely to enjoy a profit boost this year. The Johannesburg-based lender also set a target to improve return on equity in the medium term to levels better than the 15% achieved in 2019 and sees earnings growth of more than 20% in the first half…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Top executives at companies hit by accounting scandals could lose their bonuses under U.K. proposals for beefed-up regulation after a wave of corporate collapses including Carillion Plc and travel firm Thomas Cook Group Plc. The government proposed creating a new regulator with the power to wield a range of sanctions, including reprimands, fines, and even temporary bans from directorships, signaling it’s serious about cracking down on questionable accounting practices….

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Bank of England vowed not to withdraw support to the economy until there’s clear evidence of a recovery in the U.K. but sidestepped an opportunity to calm a surge in market interest rates. The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee made no change to its target for asset purchases of 895 billion pounds ($1.2 trillion) and maintained the weekly pace of its stimulus program. While that was widely expected,…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – With the World Economic Forum warning (https://bit.ly/2NntZ7V) of a deepening digital divide that will ultimately exacerbate global inequality, the role of intuitive digital financial services platforms in bridging this divide is becoming more important than ever before. Indeed, next generation tools that provide essential financial services – savings accounts, global money transfers, loans, etc – to customers in an accessible way, are becoming a powerful force for change by driving…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) –   Emerging market (EM) banks in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region should see meaningful increases in reported nonperforming loan (NPL) ratios in 2021 with the expiration of moratoria and loan forbearance programmes, Fitch Ratings says. Our new report What Investors Want to Know: Loan Moratoria in Emerging EMEA outlines the extent to which these banks have utilised moratoria programmes and highlights risks to asset quality as forbearance measures are withdrawn….

Commenting on the US Fed’s latest policy decision, Toby Sturgeon, Global Head of Fiduciary Investment Services at ZEDRA, said: “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell retained a dovish stance during the central bank’s latest policy decision. He reiterated that they would be carefully looking ahead to ensure there was tangible evidence the U.S. economy has fully recovered. Policymakers don’t anticipate an increase in interest rates at least until 2023. The S&P 500 rose to a record high and…

JOHANNESBURG (Bloomberg) — Absa Group Ltd. has opted to break with most of its South African rivals and keep preserving capital at the expense of paying dividends — but pledged to look at ways to make up for the pause when appropriate. South Africa’s third-largest bank expects to gradually resume dividends from the first half of 2021, unlike peers who have already resumed payouts. Should loan growth fail to take off as hoped, excess capital…