UK fraud office failed to get key Qatar documents for Barclays trial
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) failed to take “reasonable and appropriate” steps to get key documents from Qatar’s U.S. lawyers before a fraud trial of four former Barclays executives, a London criminal court heard on Thursday.
Bonds jump, stocks flop as ECB restarts cash pumps
European stocks and Wall Street futures went from red to green and back again on Thursday while bond yields tumbled, as the ECB pushed back interest rate rises to 2020 and confirmed it will start doling out cheap cash again.
GE says its reserves are enough, seeking premium increases
General Electric Co said on Thursday its current reserves for long-term care insurance policies were sufficient and it was looking to increase premiums to cover their rising cost.
Kroger’s $3 billion splurge hits profit outlook, shares slide
Kroger Co projected annual profit below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as the grocer spends billions of dollars on modernizing its stores and delivery to compete better with Walmart and Amazon.
Wall Street dips at open after ECB decision
U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday led by financial stocks as investors digested the European Central Bank’s move to push out its first post-crisis rate hike until at least 2020 and a new round of cheap loans to boost the euro zone economy.
Scandals turn compliance staff into ‘rock stars’ of Nordic banking
Compliance and anti-money laundering staff are in hot demand in the Nordic financial sector following tougher regulations and a string of scandals involving the region’s top banks Danske Bank, Nordea and Swedbank.
ECB pushes out rate hike, offers cheap cash to banks
The European Central Bank changed tack on its tightening plan on Thursday, pushing out the timing of its first post-crisis rate hike until 2020 at the earliest and offering banks a new round of cheap loans to help revive the euro zone economy.
ECB to appoint banking watchdog vice chair ‘in coming weeks’: Draghi
The European Central Bank will appoint someone to become the euro zone’s second-most senior banking watchdog “in the coming weeks”, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday.
ECB cuts growth, inflation forecasts
The European Central Bank slashed its growth and inflation forecasts for 2019 and lowered those for 2020 and 2021 on Thursday, acknowledging that Europe’s slowdown was longer and deeper than earlier thought.
SoftBank extends tech reach with $5 billion LatAm fund
Japan’s SoftBank Group is launching a $5 billion fund to invest in technology companies in Latin America, it said on Thursday, ramping up its tech ambitions beyond its huge Vision Fund.
