Banking

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Some of the world’s biggest banks are urging a U.S. judge not to immediately terminate Libor after a group of borrowers filed suit claiming the benchmark was the work of a “price-fixing cartel.” Defendants in the case, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG, said in a November filing that an injunction abruptly ending the London interbank offered rate would wreak havoc on…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — A Bank of England rate cut next month is starting to look like an attractive outside bet. A third national lock-down in the U.K. is the overwhelmingly positive sentiment on the vaccine rollout and threatening to drag the economy into a double-dip recession. As a result, expectations are rising the BOE will ease policy at its Feb. 4 meeting. The widely held view that support is likely to come…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — Big U.S. banks have gone from losers to leaders in the stock market, rebounding from a pandemic-induced pummeling as investors anticipate a surge in federal spending in 2021 and look ahead to this week’s earnings-season kickoff. Whether they maintain that momentum depends on the success of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda, Federal Reserve monetary policy and how quickly Covid-19 is brought to heel. Investors have been optimistic about economic growth, with…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Central banks are set to spend 2021 maintaining their ultra-easy monetary policies even with the global economy expected to accelerate away from last year’s coronavirus-inflicted recession. In Bloomberg’s quarterly review of monetary policy that covers 90% of the world economy, no major western central bank is expected to hike interest rates this year. China, India, Russia, and Mexico are among those predicted to cut their benchmarks even further. Only…

CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Morocco held its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low of 1.5%, awaiting signs the economy is recovering from the pandemic. The move by the central bank Tuesday was expected after the North African nation signaled it may dial back a recent borrowing spree, freeing up liquidity in the domestic debt market and blunting the need for an immediate cut. It’s the second consecutive hold after a record easing…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — It’s not just the pandemic that’s putting Nigerian bank earnings at risk: Competition for customers in the recession-hit economy is driving interest rates on loans lower. Mid-tier lender FCMB Group Plc is forecasting that first-quarter earnings will fall more than 20% as rates decline, pushing the Lagos-based bank to accelerate lending to compensate for the profit squeeze. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest bank by market value, reported flat interest income for the…