Banks

Payments-app war drags banks into discomfort zone

14 Nov 2023

The US lenders behind Venmo rival Zelle, including JPMorgan and Bank of America, are now compensating victims of some online scams. They’d rather not, and technically shouldn’t have to. In the cutthroat fintech market, however, customers can be right even when they’re wrong.

Capital Calls: UK M&A guidelines

13 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now shaking up his own government’s takeover rules.

UBS faces a long wait for M&A share-price boost

7 Nov 2023

Boss Sergio Ermotti is cutting costs and shedding unwanted Credit Suisse assets. He’s even won $22 bln of new money from wealthy clients. The question is when investors will reward him with a richer valuation. Lingering legal and integration risks suggest it might take time.

For global banks, India could soon be worth it

7 Nov 2023

CEOs have descended on Hong Kong for a summit, but investment bankers based in the city are spending time elsewhere in Asia as revenue from China shrinks. In India, IPOs are on the rise and fees are improving. Buyout firms’ behaviour suggests those trends will continue.

Canary Wharf may yet avoid once-a-decade upheaval

6 Nov 2023

The main landlord of London’s key office district has tended to have a new owner every 10 years. The 300 mln pounds of equity injected by incumbents Brookfield and Qatar suggests they may buck the trend. That gives Canary Wharf scope to address its issues in a stable manner.

Capital Calls: Paramount’s stricter streaming

3 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: The media stalwart’s shares popped 10% as boss Bob Bakish predicted that losses from its costly streaming push have topped out. But the company still faces a cutthroat market full of better-resourced rivals.

Morgan Stanley’s new CEO inherits rich pickings

2 Nov 2023

Ted Pick has the money and backing of predecessor James Gorman to make acquisitions that will help the $120 bln Wall Street firm service more of the global elite. While many potential targets look cheap, he can take his time. The most enticing prospects aren’t for sale yet.

Piyush Gupta: Asia’s most disrupted digital banker

2 Nov 2023

The CEO of Singapore’s DBS is often feted as the region’s top financier and a candidate to lead rivals. Yet following repeated tech fails, the regulator has banned the bank from activities including M&A. It puts dividends at risk and will attract the eye of watchdogs overseas.

HSBC’s profit resilience may face sterner tests

30 Oct 2023

Europe’s largest bank doubled third-quarter earnings and is buying back $3 bln of stock, despite a hit from Chinese real estate. Yet the benefit of higher rates is wearing off while costs are stubbornly rising. CEO Noel Quinn’s targets leave room for bigger setbacks.

UK banking pain is a warning for European lenders

27 Oct 2023

NatWest fell 10% after slashing its 2023 revenue target on Friday. Brits are looking for better savings rates, meaning banks have to pay up or lose customers. Continental peers, like UniCredit and CaixaBank, may be at risk of suffering the same plight as their British rivals.

Wall Street’s glum rainmakers deserve more love

26 Oct 2023

Income from dealmaking is moribund; trading revenue is lumpy. No wonder investors in firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs promote the relative appeal of less temperamental businesses like wealth management and credit cards. Before long, though, what’s down may be up again.

StanChart hopes crash into harsh market realities

26 Oct 2023

Shares in the lender run by Bill Winters tanked by up to 17% after surprise hits to its China bank and real estate holdings. These may be one-offs. But the reaction is a reminder that StanChart’s current mediocre goals, after years of subpar results, offer little room for error.

Morgan Stanley CEO shift pleases all, thrills none

26 Oct 2023

Ted Pick is an easy choice: steeped in markets, long-serving and unlikely to upset James Gorman’s strategic direction. Promotions for two CEO also-rans may keep the handover civil. It’s an utterly underwhelming transition which – given Wall Street’s record – is a good thing.

Europe’s investment-bank push is far from a shove

25 Oct 2023

Deutsche Bank has bought a $500 mln UK boutique, BNP is bulking up in markets and Santander has hired 50 Credit Suisse bankers. Yet no one is trying to go back to 2010, when the region had 48% of the debt-trading business. That’s good for US rivals, and the Europeans’ investors.

UniCredit’s surge is a pipe dream for Barclays

24 Oct 2023

The Italian bank’s shares have risen to 60% of forecast tangible book value while the UK lender languishes at 40%. Cost control helped, which Barclays could mimic. But so did UniCredit’s business lines and geography, which is not something the British group can do much about.

Kotak’s new boss will have his work cut out

24 Oct 2023

Former Barclays and Citi executive Ashok Vaswani is taking the helm at the $41 bln Indian bank. He’s short on domestic experience, key lieutenants were in the running for the job, and his predecessor is the lender’s top investor and a board member. Vaswani has a hard path ahead.

Blackstone’s business is lumpy and that’s OK

19 Oct 2023

The asset manager regularly touts its steady, rising fund fees as a cushion against the stop-start business of buying and selling assets. The problem is that choppy markets have dampened both. They’ll no doubt return – it’s just a reminder that there’s no escaping the cycle.

Banks’ wealth-management heyday may have passed

18 Oct 2023

Morgan Stanley, UBS and others focused on catering to rich people after the 2008 crisis, as asset prices soared and regulation hit their traditional businesses. Now, falling fees and rising rates imply slower growth. The silver lining is that smaller players will struggle more.

David Solomon’s Goldman remix is audibly off-key

17 Oct 2023

The Wall Street firm is well short of a 15% return on equity goal, even absent consumer-bank snafus and property writedowns. Its CEO gave up DJ-ing, but promises Goldman can spin a new tune focused on more stable income. It will take much more to prove that’s attainable.

Macquarie’s Norse saga sends telco breakup warning

17 Oct 2023

The Australian firm is mulling options for Danish operator TDC. A lengthy plan to separate its network from its consumer business left both units burdened by debt amid intense competition, which could deter buyers. Others looking to split, like Telecom Italia, may think twice.