TOP NEWS IN GLOBAL FINANCIALS
* British bank Barclays PLC has reduced its holding in former unit Absa Group Ltd. by half after selling 63,072,651 ordinary shares in the South African lender at 164.0 rand per share, amounting to total gross proceeds of 10.34 billion rand, or roughly £526 million. Following the sale, Barclays' remaining stake in Absa stands at about 7.4%.
* The U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia-based Open Joint Stock Bank Transkapitalbank as well as a network of more than 40 individuals and entities led by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev due to their alleged involvement in attempts to evade previous sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctioned entities include Transkapitalbank unit OJSC Investtradebank, JSC Marshal.Global and virtual currency mining company Bitriver. The sanctions mean all property and interests of affected persons or entities in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. citizens are barred from dealing with them.
➤ Big bank revenue falls in Q1 despite uptick in net interest income
Declines in investment banking and mortgage businesses sapped pre-provision earnings growth, although guidance pointed to a big further lift from rising interest rates.
➤ US banks with highest forward price-to-earnings ratios, April 2022
Silvergate Capital Corp. is the industry's most expensive stock by price-to-estimated 2022 earnings in April, trading at 33.3x its 2022 estimated EPS as of April 14.
READ MORE about the market reaction and industry impact of the evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine in our new Issue in Focus.
US & CANADA
* The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. alerted Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission three years ago about rival Morgan Stanley's series of block trades as part of "informal" talks about price drops in certain Hong Kong-listed companies shortly before Morgan Stanley brought blocks of shares to market, the Financial Times (London) reported, citing unnamed sources. It is not known if Hong Kong authorities probed Goldman's claim, according to the report. Morgan Stanley, Goldman and the Hong Kong regulator declined to comment, the FT said.
* JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been tracking employees' ID swipes through "dashboards" and "reports" to ensure return-to-office quotas are met, but some staffers are so upset with the scheme that they are planning to quit, Business Insider reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the program. JPMorgan employees told the news outlet the company expects hybrid workers to be in the office for a minimum of three days a week.
Click here for more of the day's essential bank and financial services news in the U.S. and Canada.
LATIN AMERICA
* Brazilian investment company Vitreo Distribuidora De Titulos E Valores Mobiliarios SA is offering a new pension fund product called Oportunidades de uma Vida, Valor Econômico reported. Vitreo, which is changing its name to Empiricus Investimentos, is also offering a fund similar to a Vanguard benchmark index fund and a crypto-focused investment fund.
* Chile's Supreme Court ruled that Banco del Estado de Chile violated certain free trade rules, overturning a decision by free trade court TDLC, Diario Financiero reported. The issue was due to certain tariffs on electronic transfers made to Banco Internacional, Banco Security, Banco BICE, Scotiabank Chile SA and Banco Itaú Chile. The Supreme Court did not fine the bank; claimants can file further cases for collecting damages.
EUROPE
* The industry body governing the credit default swap market ruled that Russia failed to meet its contractual obligations to foreign creditors when it paid its dollar-denominated bonds in rubles, The Wall Street Journal reported. Credit default swaps linked to Russia's creditworthiness can be triggered if it fails to switch the payments to dollars before a grace period lapses on May 4, the Journal wrote, noting that such an event would be the country's first default on foreign debts since 1918.
* Deutsche Bank AG completed the first step in its envisaged transformation of the IT systems at its Deutsche Postbank AG retail unit, Bloomberg News reported. The push, dubbed Project Unity, is expected to cut annual costs at the German bank by roughly €300 million. It will be done in stages and is expected to be finalized next year.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Europe.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
* Emirates NBD Bank PJSC's first-quarter group profit attributable to equity holders rose 18% year over year to 2.74 billion United Arab Emirates dirhams from 2.32 billion dirhams. Net impairment loss on financial assets fell 20% over the period to 1.40 billion dirhams, reflecting the improving operating environment.
* Qatar's The Commercial Bank PSQC posted a net profit of 702.3 million riyals for the first quarter, up 16.5% from the year-ago 602.7 million riyals, driven by an 11.4% increase in net interest income to 953.8 million riyals. The lender's net provisions for loans and advances rose 11.2% to 236.2 million riyals.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape pledged to implement all recommendations from a royal commission into loans issued by UBS Group AG in the country, which includes a 10-year ban on UBS Australia doing business in the country as well as a referral of the matter to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, The Australian Financial Review reported. UBS said it disagrees with statements made in the Papua New Guinea Parliament.
* The People's Bank of China maintained its one-year loan prime rate at 3.7%. The loan prime rate, which is the reference for mortgages, also remained unchanged at 4.6%.
* Thailand-based Bank of Ayudhya PCL's first-quarter net profit increased 14% year over year to 7.42 billion baht. Its nonperforming loan ratio stood at 2.03%, down from 2.2% at the end of 2021.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Asia-Pacific.
Deza Mones and Ryan Jeffrey Sy contributed to this report.
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