Starling hikes loan loss provisions on ‘pessimistic’ UK outlook
Starling Bank is “pessimistic” about the outlook for the UK economy, it said on Wednesday, setting aside more cash for potential loan losses even as the digital bank reported a 55% jump in annual pretax profit, driven by higher interest rates. In the midst of an election campaign in which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, trailing […]
France needs clarity around budget strategy after snap election, says ECB’s Villeroy
France needs quick clarity around the budget strategy for the country once a snap parliamentary election is over, Bank of France chief and European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday. French bonds and stocks have underperformed other European markets this week after President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap parliamentary […]
Italy’s Antitrust closes probe into Intesa Sanpaolo
Italy’s competition watchdog said on Wednesday it had closed a probe into Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), and its digital bank unit Isybank because they had taken the required action to avoid unfair commercial practices. The antitrust authority (AGCM) opened the investigation in November into the transfer of thousands of Intesa Sanpaolo customers to the lender’s mobile-only service Isybank. Around 5,000 […]
Exclusive: Capital Group shakes up strategy to hit $4 trillion by 2031
Capital Group aims to grow its fixed income business, accelerate overseas expansion and diversify away from its core equities franchise to stem client withdrawals and compete with faster-growing fund rivals, its CEO Mike Gitlin told Reuters. Over its 93 years, Los Angeles-based Capital has built the world’s largest active fund firm, including the giant ‘American […]
Germany’s May inflation rises to 2.8% on higher services prices
German inflation rose in May due to higher services prices, the federal statistics office said on Wednesday, confirming preliminary data. German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose 2.8% in May from a year earlier. They had risen 2.4% year-on-year in April. “The inflation rate is slightly up again, mainly due to the continued […]
Morgan Stanley CEO says AI could save financial advisers 10-15 hours a week
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) could save Morgan Stanley’s (MS.N), opens new tab financial advisers between 10 and 15 hours a week, the bank’s CEO Ted Pick told investors at a conference on Monday. “This is potentially really game-changing,” Pick said, adding that the bank’s tool to transcribe and enter notes from client meetings into a […]
S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closing highs; Fed meeting, CPI ahead
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out record closing highs on Monday, although investors were cautious ahead of this week’s consumer prices report and a Federal Reserve policy announcement. Providing some support to the Nasdaq and S&P 500, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab shares ended up 0.7%, the session after a 10-for-one stock split. Some investors now believe […]
EU assessing deal by UAE’s e& for PPF over alleged subsidies
UAE telecoms group e&’s (EAND.AD), opens new tab bid for parts of Czech telecoms company PPF’s assets will be investigated on concerns it may be benefiting from distortive foreign subsidies, EU competition regulators said on Monday. The deal would see e&, formerly called Etisalat, acquire sole control of PPF Telecom excluding its Czech business. The examination of […]
Staff warned off whistleblower hotlines, says global survey
More than half of whistleblowers have felt pressured not to use internal hotlines to raise red flags at large global businesses and public bodies, a global EY survey showed. The number of organisations without a whistleblowing hotline has halved since a similar survey in 2022, as countries introduce new whistleblower protection laws and regulators order […]
What EU election results mean for markets – in charts
Gains for the far-right in European Parliament elections that prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call a shock national vote puts the focus squarely back on political risks in Europe that financial markets had long put on the backburner. The euro, French stocks and government debt were all hurt on Monday as investors assessed whether the far-right can repeat their success […]