Banking | - Part 80

Moody’s Sees Angola as No-Go Zone for U.S. Banks as Risks Remain

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola is still a long way off from tempting U.S. banks into resuming dollar-clearing services despite making progress in combating money laundering, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “American banks are unlikely to come back to Angola anytime soon,” Akin Majekodunmi, a London-based senior analyst at Moody’s, said in an interview on Wednesday. “This industry, if you like, doesn’t make much commercial sense for them anymore.” Bank of America Corp….

BOE’s November Rate Hike Isn’t Set in Stone After Crunch Week

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – After a crucial week for the Bank of England, a November interest-rate increase no longer looks like a sure thing. Inflation may have hit 3 percent, but for some policymakers at the central bank, the domestic price pressures that justify raising now aren’t there. That view was backed up by data Wednesday that showed wage growth slowing. Dave Ramsden, the Monetary Policy Committee’s newest member, had said a day earlier that…

HSBC, Standard Chartered Face U.K. Probe Over Gupta Ties

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – United Kingdom regulators are looking into whether HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc facilitated money-laundering as a result of possible ties to South Africa’s politically powerful Gupta family. The Financial Conduct Authority probe comes after Peter Hain, a member of the unelected House of Lords, wrote a letter raising concerns about the banks’ possible exposure to the Guptas. In the letter, Hain said allegedly illicit funds may have passed through the…

South Africa September Inflation Uptick Limits Room for Rate Cuts

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African inflation quickened for a second consecutive month in September, reducing room for the nation’s central bank to ease policy. The inflation rate rose to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent the previous month, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said in a report on its website on Wednesday. The median of 24 economist’s estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 5 percent. Prices rose 0.5 percent in the month, the highest monthly rate since March….

Kenyan Central Bank Moves to Ease Investors’ Vote Concerns

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s central bank is communicating a sense of normalcy and continuity to investors amid uncertainty about the country’s protracted elections, Governor Patrick Njoroge said. Institutions including the nation’s courts show Kenya is a “mature” democracy, Njoroge said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in London on Tuesday. While liquidity in the country’s money markets is tight at the moment, it has “nothing to do with the political circumstances,” he said. Central…

U.S. Treasury Keeps Currency Spotlight on Swiss, Germans

Posted on by The Editorial Team

BERLIN (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.S. Treasury once again singled out Switzerland and Germany for the value of their currencies and exports, suggesting the former could cut interest rates further to alleviate deflationary pressures. While the department said no major trading partner was manipulating its currency to gain an advantage, it kept the two on the list of countries it considers to have a big trade surplus with the U.S., a high current-account surplus or to…

South Africa’s Mminele Downplays Chance of Imminent Rate Cuts

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uncertainty limits the opportunity for rate cuts in South Africa even as inflation remains within the central bank’s target band, according to Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele. The bank unexpectedly kept its key rate unchanged at 6.75 percent at its last policy meeting in September, concerned about higher inflation expectations. Price growth quickened to 4.8 percent in August, its fifth month within the central bank’s target range of 3 percent to 6 percent. “Amid…

« 1 … 78 79 80 81 82 … 128 »