Microfinance focuses on lending. Now the industry is turning to deposits IT IS hard for people in the rich world to imagine what it is like to live on $2 a day.
Archive for category Banking News
The ramifications of a likely no vote may not be pleasant ICELAND’S president is usually an apolitical and little-known figurehead. But Olafur Ragnar Grimsson has become a national hero for his refusal to sign a law passed narrowly in late December by the Althingi, Iceland’s parliament, to repay Britain and the Netherlands
Should every child receive a bank account at birth? YOU come into the world with nothing, the saying goes. A new campaign proposes to change that by giving every newborn child in the world an online bank account with $100 in it.
A difficult time for a fund-raising spree A SENIOR World Bank official describes its efforts to secure an additional $3 billion-5 billion in paid-in capital as a “once-in-a-generation increase to deal with the effects of a once-in-a-generation crisis”.
Countries compete to weaken their currencies ONCE upon a time, nations took pride in their strong currencies, seeing them as symbols of economic and political power.
Countries don’t like bad news about their creditworthiness WHEN the subprime crisis broke in 2007, credit-rating agencies were among the first groups to take the blame. Critics argued that investors had drawn false comfort from the AAA ratings that the agencies handed out on complex packages of mortgage-related debt. Furthermore, the raters were hamstrung by the conflicts of interest inherent in being paid by issuers to assess their bonds.
The central bank loses a vice-chairman but starts to regain its standing THE Federal Reserve, accused by critics of monetary and regulatory malpractice, has seen its standing plummet. The House of Representatives has passed one bill to audit its monetary decisions and proposed others to strip it of regulatory duties.
Bad debts are peaking and pay is falling at Europe’s banks TWO years ago banks began to include tables in their results announcements that were designed to reassure investors that their exposure to toxic securities was under control. The crisis has moved on. Now one European financial firm’s presentation includes a slide that pleads “limited exposure to sovereign debt [of] Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain”.
Governments used to worry about their banks. Now the reverse is also true A SENIOR HSBC executive reminisces fondly about the day he was parachuted into Latin America, a decade or so ago, to help run a recently purchased but troubled local bank. As he arrived he passed people protesting against the acquisition, some of whom were being carried about in coffins.
