Banking

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors have begun betting that the Bank of England will join the European Central Bank in cutting interest rates below zero. Traders bought more than 21,000 option contracts in the past month that will pay out if the BOE delves into negative territory by March 2021. The bets will succeed if the central bank buckles under the twin pressures of Brexit and a global economic slowdown and eases policy…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley said the bank cut 3,000 jobs in the second quarter as the firm sought to keep a tight grip on expenses and counter criticism over its ability to reach profitability targets. The London-based bank joined other European lenders who have been eliminating roles in recent months, including HSBC Holdings Plc and Societe Generale SA. Barclays Finance Director Tushar Morzaria told journalists on a call Thursday that the cuts were…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Union Bank of Nigeria Plc increased its pace of lending in the first half of this year to meet central bank’s minimum loan to deposit ratio ahead of September deadline. The lender, held by former Barclay‘s Bank Plc Chief Executive Officer Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara Ltd., increased loan book by 8% to 563 billion naira as at June from 519.7 billion naira in December, raising loan to deposit ratio to 63%,…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Lloyds Banking Group Plc shares sank as the lender took an extra charge for a last-minute rush of calls from British customers over missold insurance. The country’s biggest mortgage lender posted a 550 million-pound provision in the second quarter for customers who were missold payment protection insurance, as a long-running compensation program draws to a close in August. It’s the biggest provision the bank has taken since the fourth quarter…

JOHANNESBURG (Capiatla Markets in Africa) – As the South African Reserve Bank’s shareholders prepared for its annual general meeting on Friday, Governor Lesetja Kganyago derided the debate over who owns the institution as a distraction from the real problems that the economy faces. This AGM was the second since the ruling African National Congress decided in December 2017 that the central bank, which is one of a handful worldwide owned by private investors, should be…

LAGOS (Capiatla Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank introduced measures last year to encourage commercial banks to lend more, part of a bid to revive one of Africa’s biggest economies. Credit growth, however, has stagnated, despite the new rules enabling lenders to deploy funds previously earmarked as reserves. Now, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele is taking a more aggressive approach, penalizing banks that are deemed too risk-averse. Why is the central bank doing this? Nigeria’s economy contracted…

LONDON (Capiatla Markets in Africa) – One contender to be Bank of England governor recently tipped by bookmakers could augur a rather different way of thinking at the institution. Pro-Brexit economist Gerard Lyons became the frontrunner this week, according to Betway, in tandem with the appointment as prime minister of his former boss, Boris Johnson. The new premier has just populated his cabinet with allies, and punters may now be betting he could repeat that with the leadership of the…