Free bank accounts may become a thing of the past in Japan
Japan's long-suffering savers have put up with virtually zero interest for years, but at least their bank accounts have remained free. That may now change, as speculation mounts over the possible use of further monetary stimulus. Lenders could begin imposing maintenance fees for retail deposit account ...
Japan Post Bank broke rules with sales of investment trust products to thousands of seniors
Japan Post Bank improperly sold investment trust products to elderly customers in violation of its rules in a total of some 20,000 cases, sources have revealed. An investigation by the unit of Japan Post Holdings Co. newly identified some 2,000 cases of improper sales of ...
Japan's regulators boost scrutiny of financial firms' foreign assets
Regulators are surveying Japan's financial firms to determine their exposure to foreign assets, including risky credit products, as the global economy slows, according to sources. The Bank of Japan and Financial Services Agency want to get a more detailed picture of domestic banks' and insurers' ...
Regulatory problems have choked China's P2P lending industry
Overburdened Chinese regulators have left the peer-to-peer lending industry to poorly staffed local governments, according to ex-regulators, threatening the survival of an important credit mechanism once seen as crucial for the country's economy. The resulting difficulties, as the industry tries to grapple with pyramid-scheme scandals ...
U.S. unveils plan to privatize mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Trump administration has unveiled its plan for ending government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those are the two giant mortgage finance companies that nearly collapsed in the financial crisis 11 years ago and were bailed out by taxpayers at a total cost ...
Japan's regional banks load up on risk as they fight to survive
Troubled regional banks are plunging into riskier corners of the credit markets, in a battle to survive ultralow interest rates and an industry shakeout. As debt yields tumble globally, the lenders are also facing weak business at home, where a shrinking population is hitting outlying ...
Argentina's government authorized currency controls Sunday in an about-face by President Mauricio Macri, who had previously lifted many protectionist practices of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The central bank is now authorized to restrict purchases of dollars as it burns through its reserves in ...
BOJ policymaker warns about the dangers of more easing, hinting at rift on board
A Bank of Japan board member warned of potential dangers if the central bank's already massive stimulus is ramped up, a view suggesting there is no consensus on how quickly it should ease policy again to head off the risk of recession. Hitoshi Suzuki, a ...
The government has effectively become the top shareholder of Shinsei Bank Ltd., with a stake of about 19 percent in terms of voting rights, replacing U.S. investment fund J.C. Flowers & Co. The fund has completed procedures to sell its stake in the major financial ...
Financial records related to U.S. President Donald Trump and three of his children that congressional Democrats have requested from Deutsche Bank AG include tax returns, the bank disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday. Two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives subpoenaed Deutsche Bank ...
Women still required to wear heels at most customer-facing firms in Japan, survey shows
A majority of companies where in-person customer service plays a major role in their business, such as banks and airlines, have dress codes requiring women to wear high-heeled shoes, according to a survey by Kyodo News. While the sample size is small, at 28 companies, ...
China's companies have unseen foreign debt that's maturing fast
The foreign debt built up by Chinese companies is about a third bigger than official data show, adding to the pressure on the country's currency reserves as a wave of repayment obligations approaches in 2020. On top of the $2 trillion in liabilities to foreign ...
