Russia plans to reduce cost of risk
Russia is considering temporarily relaxing rules affecting how the country’s banks calculate the risks associated with certain consumer loans, according to a central bank source.
Deals & Markets
Foreign fintech firms shut out by Chinese regulations
Tech companies are showing concern over regulations requiring firms selling computer equipment to Chinese banks to reveal secret source code and build back doors into their products.
“Free” bank accounts are unsustainable, says PwC
Offering free bank accounts is an unsustainable practice that increases the likelihood that British banks will try and squeeze profits from customers elsewhere, PwC has argued.
MMFs could plummet in wake of Switzerland’s cap scrap
Fitch Ratings has warned that Swiss franc-denominated money market funds (MMFs) could see negative yields in the next weeks.
Yuan breaks into top five international payments currencies
China’s yuan has become the fifth most used currency for international payments, passing the Canadian and Australian dollars in just two months.
Euro fears mount as anti-austerity party triumphs in Greece
The euro dropped briefly to an 11 year low against the dollar as the radical left-wing party Syriza won a majority in Greece’s national elections.
ECB launches quantitative easing
€1.1 trillion will be injected into Europe’s economies through an extensive programme of bond-buying, Mario Draghi has revealed.
Switzerland has launched a “currency war”, says expert
Switzerland’s decision to drop the cap that pegged the Swiss franc to the euro has triggered a currency war, says deVere Group’s James Stanton.
“Granny bonds” stampede crashes treasury website
Pensioner bonds paying an annual interest rate of up to 4% went on sale online in the UK today – but unexpectedly high demand caused website servers to crash within an hour.
Euro falls amid bond-buying ruling
The European Court of Justice’s ruling that the European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme is “necessary” and “in principle” has seen the Euro fall to a nine-year low against the dollar – the lowest point since its creation in 1999.
