Latest news with #BarclaysPlc
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Business Standard
04-08-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Trump's tariff shock likely to deepen rupee's slide, hurt recovery further
India's rupee is poised to remain one of Asia's worst performers in the second half of the year, with US tariffs adding pressure to an already fragile economic recovery, analysts say. Analysts at Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc expect the currency to drop to new record lows by the year-end amid muted foreign inflows and headwinds from US tariffs. Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan, Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Philippine peso are projected to gain, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. While most Asian nations reach US trade deals, India faces a 25 per cent tariff rate as talks stall. The nation's markets have already seen $11 billion in equity outflows as economic growth slows, while interest-rate cuts by the central bank eroded support for the currency. Further depreciation would amplify concerns over imported inflation. The rupee is likely to 'remain an underperformer in Asia,' said Dhiraj Nim, an economist and forex strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Mumbai. 'I don't think much inflow can be expected, especially with growth risk in the picture due to tariffs.' Higher tariffs may shave off about 30 basis points from the gross domestic product growth, according to Barclays. Markets will now look to the Reserve Bank of India's policy meeting on Aug. 6 for its rate moves and cues for the rupee. The RBI delivered a surprise 50-basis-point rate cut in its last meeting and signaled a higher threshold for future easing. While the near-record foreign-exchange reserves give the RBI room to intervene, any action to curb rupee losses is likely to be measured, as 'tariff uncertainty limits the RBI's motivation to aggressively push' rupee higher against the dollar, Citigroup economists led by Samiran Chakraborty wrote in a note. The rupee fell 1.2 per cent last week to 87.5275 per dollar on Friday, marking its biggest weekly drop since December 2022. Still, not all analysts are bearish. Hopes linger that a delayed trade deal with Washington may still materialize, with India reportedly weighing concessions, including boosting imports from the US, while holding off on retaliatory measures. 'The key for markets and our rupee forecast is whether a trade deal is delayed but not denied,' said Michael Wan, senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank Ltd. He sees the rupee at 87 per dollar by end-December, compared with his earlier forecast of 84.50. For now, headwinds for the rupee from sluggish foreign inflows remain. 'The bond market may not see significant inflows, as the RBI has indicated little room for further cuts,' said Chandresh Jain, EM Asia rates and FX markets strategist at BNP Paribas SA. Equities also look stretched, with high valuations and slowing economic growth, he said.
Bloomberg
01-08-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Barclays Says Credit Liquidity Premium Gone as E-Trading Thrives
The additional compensation investors demand to own tougher-to-sell investment-grade bonds has vanished, thanks to a boom in electronic and portfolio trading, according to Barclays Plc. The so-called illiquidity premium on such deals dropped to nearly zero in July, from 11 basis points between 2018 and 2024 and 35 basis points between 2011 and 2017, Barclays analysts including Zornitsa Todorova and Andrea Diaz Lafuente wrote in a note this week. That excludes periods of heightened volatility, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bloomberg
30-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Senegal's Dollar Bonds Slump as Report Raises New Debt Concerns
The outlook for the worst-performing dollar bonds in emerging markets just got a lot bleaker. The West African country's government debt unexpectedly rose to 119% of gross domestic product last year, Barclays Plc said in a report citing the latest budget data. That's well above the 99.7% indicated in a recent audit of the nation's finances.
Bloomberg
27-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
India's JSW Plans $468 Million Debt Sale to Fund Akzo Deal
Indian conglomerate JSW Group is in talks with global lenders to raise about 40 billion rupees ($468 million) to partly fund its purchase of Akzo Nobel NV 's local business, according to people familiar with the matter. Foreign banks including Barclays Plc, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank Plc will arrange the debt, which is expected to be denominated in rupees, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
Mint
26-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Jes Staley Loses Bid to Overturn Ban Over Jeffrey Epstein Friendship
(Bloomberg) -- Former Barclays Plc boss Jes Staley lost a legal battle to overturn his ban from UK finance over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, all but ending his attempt to rehabilitate himself in the British financial services industry. A London judge sided with the Financial Conduct Authority, ruling that the executive misled officials about the nature of the banker's relationship with the late pedophile financier. 'He has shown no remorse for his conduct which has led to the authority's investigation,' Judge Timothy Herrington said in his ruling on Thursday. Staley had brought the legal challenge, the most high-profile court case between the City regulator and any executive in recent years, in a bid to overturn the watchdog's move to fine and ban him from the industry. 'He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it,' Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said in a statement after the ruling. 'Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top.' The judge did cut the fine Staley has to pay to £1.1 million ($1.5 million), reduced from £1.8 million to reflect the former banking executive's loss of share awards following the FCA's punishment. A lawyer for Staley didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Staley has 14 days to appeal the ruling. During the trial the FCA displayed reams of emails showing the pair's close friendship, detailed Staley's visits to Epstein's Caribbean island and revealed that the banker had sex with an Epstein staffer. Still, Staley argued that the FCA's supervisory head had never been sufficiently clear with Barclays in his preliminary inquiries and that the bank's officials collectively drafted the letter at the center of the case. 'In our view, the evidence that Mr. Staley had a close relationship with Mr. Epstein is overwhelming,' the judge said. Staley turned up in court every day during the trial, giving testimony for four days. He said that Epstein had introduced him to 'three of the five wealthiest people in the world' during his days as a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co., saying he had the 'best rolodex.' The judge zeroed in on JPMorgan's decision to retain Epstein as a client even after bank officials became concerned about reports of Epstein's involvement in sex trafficking. The judge said it was 'more likely than not' that Staley's support for Epstein ensured that the US bank kept the disgraced financier as a client. While the judge said Staley didn't set out to mislead the tribunal, some of his evidence 'lacked credibility.' 'It was often the case that his memory was clear on matters which were helpful to his case, but not so in relation to matters that called for an explanation,' the judge said. During the hearings, the FCA argued that Staley's relationship went well beyond a professional one and that he deliberately minimized a 'deeper and more profound' affinity. Epstein was jailed in Florida in June 2008 for soliciting sex from underage girls. He was arrested again in July 2019 on federal charges relating to, among other things, the sex trafficking of minors, shortly before his death in a New York jail cell. Staley stepped down from Barclays two years later. Staley argued that he never knew the whole story about Epstein. In one exchange, a Barclays executive said Staley had told her, 'why would I have introduced my wife and daughters to Mr. Epstein if I thought he was a pedophile?' The trial saw some of the most senior figures in the City of London, including Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Barclays Chairman Nigel Higgins, give evidence. 'We have noted Mr. Staley's achievements as chief executive of Barclays, but in our view these do not diminish the seriousness of the misconduct,' Herrington said in his ruling. 'The loss of his longstanding career is an inevitable consequence of that conduct.' (Adds detail throughout.) More stories like this are available on
