Headlines

Nearly a hundred highly paid bankers left Britain ahead of its departure from the European Union, the bloc's banking watchdog said on Wednesday, the latest confirmation of how Brexit has reshaped Europe's financial sector and its tax base, Reuters reported. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said in its annual survey of bankers earning a million euros ($1.17 million) or more a year that Britain saw a drop of 95 high earners in 2019.

Greensill Capital’s bankrupt U.S. unit won court approval to sell its Finacity Corp. business to White Oak Global Advisors for $7 million after reaching a deal with unsecured creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The transaction includes an agreement with Finacity founder Adrian Katz, who dropped demands for $21.2 million in payments related to Greensill’s purchase of Finacity in 2019. In return, the bankrupt U.S. unit will not try to sue Katz or certain other insiders for their role in the deal.

Canada's inflation rate jumped to 3.7 per cent in July, as the cost of shelter and durable goods went up at a fast enough pace to push the cost of living up to its highest level since 2011, CBC reported. Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the homeowners' replacement cost index, which is related to the price of new homes, went up at an annual pace of 13.7 per cent in July. That's the fastest uptick on record dating back to 1987.

The Reserve Bank of India relaxed a rule on bank’s purchases of foreign sovereign bonds, paving the way for lenders to resume a profitable currency trade, Bloomberg News reported. In a notice sent to some banks on Monday, the RBI said foreign sovereign bonds wouldn’t fall under a regulatory cap that requires holdings of securities unlisted in India to be 10% or less of the total non-statutory liquidity ratio portfolio, the people said, asking not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak to media. The RBI’s latest decision comes after banks made a representation seeking relaxation.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance was providing its services in the Netherlands without the required registration, the Dutch central bank (DNB) said on Monday, in the latest regulatory hurdle for the company, Reuters reported. The company was not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, the De Nederlandsche Bank said, adding the warning applies to Binance Holdings Ltd and its entities that provide crypto services in the country.

Chile’s economy beat expectations in the second quarter as billions of dollars in fiscal stimulus triggered a retail sales frenzy during the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product grew 1% from the first quarter, more than the 0.7% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The economy expanded 18.1% from a year prior, the central bank reported on Wednesday.

The landslide victory for Zambian President-elect Hakainde Hichilema may help him make good on his promise to secure a much-needed deal with the International Monetary Fund to reduce debt and boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Zambia’s Eurobonds and currency rallied on Monday after Hichilema beat incumbent Edgar Lungu by almost 1 million votes with nearly 60% support. The massive margin will make it easier to change policy, said Ray Jian, an emerging-market portfolio manager at Amundi Asset Management, which has an overweight position in Zambian debt.

Job vacancies in Britain climbed to a record high at the start of the summer as businesses competed with each other to fill positions after the government lifted pandemic restrictions, the New York Times reported. From May to July, businesses sought to fill 953,000 vacancies, up 44 percent from three months earlier and well above prepandemic levels, according to data from the Office for National Statistics published on Tuesday.

The euro zone economy grew 2% in the second quarter, the European Union statistics office said on Tuesday, confirming its earlier reading as the easing of coronavirus restrictions spurred economic activity after a brief recession, Reuters reported. In a separate release Eurostat also said that employment in the 19-nation bloc grew 0.5% in the April-June period compared to the previous quarter, in line with forecasts of economists polled by Reuters.

Thai Airways International reported a net profit in the first half of 2021, its first since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, thanks to a restructure of its business as part of a rehabilitation plan, although uncertainty still clouds its passenger flight services, Nikkei Asia reported. Thai Airways posted on Monday a consolidated net profit of 11.1 billion baht ($333 million), reversing a 28 billion baht loss it recorded in the same period in the last year. This was due to contributions to its bottom line from selling off assets and adjusting employees' benefits.