TOP NEWS IN GLOBAL FINANCIALS
* Credit Suisse Group AG unit Credit Suisse Asset Management (Switzerland) Ltd. has suspended redemptions and subscriptions of certain assets in its supply chain finance funds. The Swiss bank said the suspension was necessary because a part of the funds "is currently subject to considerable uncertainties with respect to their accurate valuation." The move comes after The Wall Street Journal reported that Credit Suisse is concerned about $10 billion worth of assets in the funds that are linked to specialty finance company Greensill Capital (UK) Ltd., which has a large exposure to a single U.K.-based client, steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk, which it first set up in 2018, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The team, which will be under the company's global markets division, will start dealing Bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients in the week of March 8. Goldman is also considering a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and has requested information for digital asset custody, the news outlet added.
➤ China's next energy transition plan set to boost green bond issuance in 2021
China's energy transition roadmap for 2021-2025 and beyond, widely expected to be unveiled in early March, will likely give a much-needed boost to the nation's green bond issuance that declined for the first time last year due to the pandemic.
➤ Nordic banks likely to pay special dividends to adjust 'extreme' capital buffers
Nordic banks' capacity and commitment to pay dividends make them an attractive investment from a capital return perspective, said UBS analysts, forecasting an average cash return of 12% for the six largest banks over the next 12 months.
U.S. & CANADA
* Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said regulators extending looser capital requirements for banks, which were introduced at the start of the pandemic, would be a "grave error," the Financial Times reported, citing a letter by the Democratic lawmakers. Warren and Brown said allowing the exemptions to continue is "inexcusable" as Wall Street pays "tens of billions" in capital every quarter, according to the report. Banks, on the other hand, have warned that not extending the exemptions could limit their ability to offer credit to struggling businesses and consumers.
* U.S. insurtech Lemonade Inc. logged a fourth-quarter 2020 net loss of $33.9 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $32.7 million, or a loss of $2.90 per share, in the prior-year quarter. Gross profit stood at $7.5 million, up from $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, which the company attributed to higher gross earned premium, partially offset by the lower effective interest rate impact on investment income.
Click here for more of the day's essential bank and financial services news in the U.S. and Canada, and here for more of the day's global insurance news.
LATIN AMERICA
* Brazilian lender Banco Bradesco SA named Renato Ejnisman CEO of digital bank Next, and Felipe Thut investment banking chief at its Banco Bradesco BBI SA unit, Reuters reported. Rogério Câmara was also appointed to a newly created vice president role focused on improving customer experience.
* The Brazilian government plans to raise bank taxes to about 23% from 20% to make up for the lost revenue from the diesel tax that President Jair Bolsonaro plans to suspend, Reuters reported, citing sources. Shares at Banco Bradesco, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA and Banco do Brasil SA fell on news of Bolsonaro's proposed tax reform, Valor Econômico reported separately.
EUROPE
* Nordea Bank Abp outlined its sustainability and climate targets and commitments for 2023. The Finland-based lender aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest and reduce carbon emissions from its lending and investment portfolios by between 40% and 50% by 2030, among other goals.
* The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling on coronavirus-related business interruption coverage will have no bearing on how reinsurance contracts respond, according to a new paper from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Europe.
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
* Commercial International Bank (Egypt) SAE booked a fourth-quarter 2020 consolidated net profit of 2.89 billion Egyptian pounds, an 11% decrease from the year-ago 3.26 billion pounds. For the full year 2020, the bank recorded a net profit of 10.2 million pounds, down 13% from 11.8 million pounds a year earlier.
* Lebanon's central bank governor, Riad Salamé, said the country's Banking Control Commission will assess which banks have met the capital and liquidity targets set out by the regulator last year, Reuters reported. Banks were required to boost their capital by 20% and liquidity with their corresponding banks to 3% of foreign-currency deposits.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in the Middle East and Africa.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission released draft regulation requiring commercial banks, rural credit cooperatives and financial asset management or leasing firms with consolidated assets of at least 300 billion yuan to create recovery and resolution plans, Caixin reported.
* Japan-based Nomura Holdings Inc. will create a new investment management unit as part of a reorganization that will take place in April, The Nikkei reported. The new unit will oversee Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd., Nomura Capital Partners and Nomura Mezzanine Partners.
Click here for more of the day's essential financial news in Asia-Pacific.
Ryan Jeffrey Sy and Pablo Jiménez Arandia contributed to this report.
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This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
