TOP NEWS IN GLOBAL FINANCIALS
– The US SEC filed 13 charges against Binance Holdings Ltd. and its BAM Trading Services Inc. affiliate for allegedly operating as unregistered securities exchanges, the regulator said. Binance and BAM have functioned as brokers, dealers and clearing agencies since 2017, generating $11.6 billion in revenue from fees paid by US customers, the SEC said. The regulator also charged Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as a control person responsible for the registration violations. The lawsuit brings the list of digital tokens that the SEC has deemed unregistered securities to more than $115 billion of cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg News reported. In its complaint, the regulator cited a dozen tokens that fall under its purview, a designation that could make the assets harder to trade, according to the report.
– More US bankers are leaving Switzerland's Credit Suisse Group AG as its takeover by UBS Group AG nears completion, sources told Bloomberg News. Leveraged finance bankers Craig Jeffers and Phil Tamplin resigned to join Spain's Banco Santander SA and US-based Mizuho Securities USA LLC, respectively, while technology banker Pushkar Batra is heading for Germany's Deutsche Bank AG in New York as a managing director and head of tech services, people familiar with the matter said. Representatives for the banks declined to comment.
➤ Investment banks await market volatility after weak Q1 for equities trading
Among a sample of 12 global banks, five from the US and seven from Europe, all reported year-over-year declines in their equities income, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.
➤ Largest Gulf banks geared for more lending income growth in 2023
The largest banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council are set to earn more net interest income in 2023 as interest rates are likely to remain elevated for most of the year, according to industry observers.
➤ Regional banks among worst performers as US bank stocks have 3rd monthly loss
Regional banks were among the worst-performing US bank stocks in May as the collapse of First Republic Bank and another Federal Reserve rate hike helped propel lenders to a third straight month of share losses.
READ MORE about the liquidity crunch and the fallout for the financial sector in our new Issue in Focus.
AMERICAS
– US-based financial exchange Cboe Global Markets Inc. received approval of an amended order of registration for Cboe Clear Digital LLC from the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission, which will let Cboe Clear provide services for digital asset futures on a margined basis for futures commission merchants, in addition to the fully collateralized futures and fully collateralized swaps previously authorized.
– JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon is set to privately meet a group of moderate House Democrats — the New Democrat Coalition — to discuss banking and the US economy, Bloomberg News reported.
– Of 59 large and midsize US banks included in a review by consulting firm Compensation Advisory Partners, four — PNC Financial Services Group Inc., UMB Financial Corp., PacWest Bancorp and Commerce Bancshares Inc. — paid out special awards in 2022 to retain CEOs and top executives, down from 14 banks that did the same in 2021, American Banker reported.
Click here for more of the day's essential bank and financial services news in the US and Canada.
EUROPE
– The European Central Bank will raise interest rates further to tackle persistent inflation, President Christine Lagarde said, indicating that the ECB's monetary-tightening cycle is not yet over, Bloomberg wrote. Lagarde said rates "will be brought to levels sufficiently restrictive" to bring inflation back down to the 2% medium-term target and "will be kept at those levels for as long as necessary."
– Barclays PLC is losing one of its top technology bankers, the latest in a slew of departures by its dealmakers in the US since the British bank replaced its investment banking co-heads in January. Steven Markovich resigned to join Centerview Partners LLC, sources told Reuters, leaving Ben Freeland sole global head of investment banking at Barclays. Markovich and Centerview declined to comment. Barclays said it expects "natural attrition" at its investment bank as a result of leadership changes.
– Standard Chartered PLC is in advanced talks to sell its aviation finance business to AviLease, a jet lessor owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, in a deal that could fetch at least €3.5 billion, insiders told Bloomberg. The UK-headquartered bank is selling Dublin-based Standard Chartered Aviation Finance as part of plans to trim costs and boost shareholder returns. Representatives for StanChart and the Public Investment Fund declined to comment.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Europe.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
– South Africa's economy grew 0.4% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, avoiding a recession, Reuters reported. On an annual basis, the economy grew 0.2%.
– Kenya-based KCB Group PLC in 2022 increased its stake in BPR Bank Rwanda PLC to 87% by adding 2.7 billion shillings in the business, Business Daily Africa reported. The stake of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm in its Rwanda unit, which was formed from the merger between the former KCB Bank Rwanda and Banque Populaire du Rwanda, was previously 77%.
ASIA-PACIFIC
– Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will make conversational AI available to nearly all domestic employees in mid-June, starting with assisting in document preparation and with plans to eventually expand to internal procedures, inquiries and programming, Makoto Umemiya, a deputy vice president overseeing the Japanese group's digital strategy, told The Nikkei.
– UK-based Barclays Private Bank named Tom Road deputy head of its Singapore business while Wengmun Loh will take over as head of dealing and derivatives in the city-state, Reuters reported, citing a company statement.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Asia-Pacific.
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