Category: Financial Services

Qatar Investment Authority
February 27, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Qatar’s SWF Plans To Invest Over $1Bn in Venture Capital Deals

The initiative was unveiled by Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, emphasising that the investments would focus solely on venture capital funds, excluding private equity and debt investments. This venture capital "Fund of Funds" seeks not only to achieve commercial returns at market rates for the sovereign wealth fund but also to…

Read more
February 26, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Citi Appoints JPMorgan’s Raghavan as Banking Head, Says CEO

Raghavan, who recently held the position of head of global investment banking at JPMorgan, is slated to commence his new role at Citigroup during the summer. Peter Babej, who has been serving as the interim banking head at Citi, will continue in his role until his retirement later in the year. In the memo, Jane…

Read more
Raiffeisen Bank International
February 22, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Raiffeisen, an Austrian Bank, Is Being Probed for Money Laundering

The investigation focuses on adherence to the critical "know-your-customer" (KYC) regulations, which serve as a fundamental measure against money laundering activities. This development occurs amidst additional investigations by the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), making Raiffeisen, the leading Western bank operating in Russia, a subject of international regulatory attention. According…

Read more
Santander bank
February 19, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Santander Unveils $1.57Bn Share Buyback, Ups Dividend Payout

The bank's shares saw a notable increase of 2.17% to 3.7530 euros in early trading at 0857 GMT, despite a year-to-date decline of 4.68% as of February 16. Santander outlined that the maximum share purchase price would be capped at 4.76 euros, and based on an assumed average price of 3.95 euros, it could acquire…

Read more
Cboe
February 16, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Cboe Australia Adds BlackRock’s iShares ETFs to Its Assets List

Dave Howson, Cboe Global Markets' Executive Vice President and Global President, highlighted the importance of this initiative, stating, "The introduction of iShares ETFs to Cboe Australia marks a pivotal achievement in realising Cboe's vision for global listings. Cboe stands out as the only exchange network offering asset managers a streamlined avenue for listing their products…

Read more
Barclays office building
February 15, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Barclays Considers Acquiring SocGen’s UK Private Banking Unit

Societe Generale, with advisory services from Rothschild & Co, has initiated seeking potential buyers through an auction for Kleinwort Hambros, as mentioned by two sources. The French banking conglomerate is also preparing to divest its private banking operations in Switzerland, aligning with its strategy to streamline its business portfolio, the sources added. Kleinwort Hambros, which…

Read more
Santander bank
February 14, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Santander Says It Did Not Violate US Sanctions on Iran

An internal communication, initially disclosed by Bloomberg News and subsequently verified by Reuters, revealed that Santander's global head of communications announced the bank had undertaken an extensive examination of connections to entities and individuals mentioned in the FT report. The investigation concluded that there were no sanctions breaches within any segment of Santander's international operations.…

Read more
ANZ bank
February 12, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

ANZ Bank’s Shares Rise to a 22-Month High on Q1 In-Line Revenues

By 2320 GMT, the shares had climbed nearly 1% to A$27.93, reaching levels not seen since April 21, 2022, in contrast to a 0.3% decrease in the broader market index. The bank's institutional banking services have seen a surge in demand, leading to a record annual profit last year, boosted significantly by a payments platform…

Read more
Mediobanca
February 09, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Italy’s Mediobanca’s H1 Profits Surged Higher, Beating Estimates

Nagel emphasised the transformative nature of the recent performance, highlighting it as a manifestation of the group's new strategic direction. "Our progress has been substantial and highly efficient in generating and utilising capital," he remarked. This was underscored by the bank's core capital ratio, which stood at 15.3% of risk-weighted assets, surpassing analysts' forecasts from…

Read more
Barclays office building
February 09, 2024 BY Simon Mugo

Barclays Announces Plans To Curb Fossil Fuel Funding

This decision is a critical component of its newly unveiled Transition Finance Framework (TFF), introduced amid growing scrutiny from environmental advocates concerning its energy financing policies in light of rising emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Starting in 2025, the financial institution plans to limit its financing to companies that are not diversified, such as those…

Read more