News and opinion on finance

Noel Quinn reveals HSBC considered exit from US retail banking

The most surprising moment in HSBC’s announcement today of what interim chief executive Noel Quinn describes as “one of the deepest restructuring and simplification programmes in our history” came at the very ...
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HSBC’s first green deposit account targets Singapore and UK corporates

Slowly, often imperceptibly, the financial sector’s green agenda grinds into gear. It is worthy and righteous, yet it can feel like pulling teeth. HSBC is the latest global bank to hit the ...
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Tidjane Thiam leaves Credit Suisse poised for growth

Outgoing CEO Tidjane Thiam at the annual news conference in Zurich on Thursday, to present Credit Suisse's results for 2019 Credit Suisse on Thursday reported operational pre-tax income of SFr4.3 billion for ...
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China’s state banks close branches as coronavirus spreads

The People's Bank of China in Beijing A provincial arm of one of China’s big-four state banks has taken a decision to close at least 10% of its branches, as coronavirus tightens ...
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ECB: Helicopter money could lift the mood in Europe

Europe is stuck in a rut and it’s getting dangerous. Monetary policy is looser than it’s ever been and there’s little chance it will tighten any time soon. Is helicopter money the ...
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Costa Rica’s debt plans will illuminate LatAm risk appetite

Costa Rica’s public debt officials may soon find themselves looking fondly back to a golden age of access to the international debt capital markets. It was time when the country’s deals were ...
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Alipay partners with WorldRemit to tap into the Chinese diaspora

Alipay is one step closer to e-wallet world domination following a new partnership with online remittances company WorldRemit. The partnership, agreed on the January 22, will allow consumers to use the WorldRemit ...
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Luanda Leaks emails show financial institutions still have KYC problems

Isabel dos Santos, chairwoman of Angola’s state-owned oil company Sonangol When the façade around Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of the former president of Angola, came crashing down in January, those ...
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Goldman reveals it’s no longer special

It took 20 years, but Goldman Sachs finally held an investor day. Was it worth the wait? Financial targets – multi-year targets! – were unveiled, although they were largely a recasting of ...
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One size does not fit all, so investors need to work harder on ESG strategies

Every investor wants environmental, social and governance (ESG) exposure, but only the largest have the resources to comprehensively assess this for themselves. As the demand for standardized measurement grows, fixed income in ...
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Responsible finance: Goldman pushes change

Goldman Sachs continues to lead on environmental, social and governance issues. In December it announced it will be investing $750 billion in the next decade to fight climate change. Then, at Davos, ...
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Brazil’s biggest banks face cost-cutting challenge

Brazil’s five largest banks need to cut costs by a combined minimum of R$24 billion ($5.7 billion) in the next three years as lower interest rates put pressure on net interest margins, ...
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