Latest news with #StanChart
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
StanChart brings maximum interest rate on savings account to record 8.05%
[SINGAPORE] While local banks are dropping their interest rates on savings accounts, Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) has raised its rates to an all-time high. Its revised interest rates, which took effect on Jun 1, is a two percentage point increase to 8.05 per cent, from 6.05 per cent previously. This is the highest rate available in the industry for comparable savings accounts. Conversely, local banks such as UOB and OCBC trimmed the interest rates on their respective savings accounts last month to align with 'long-term interest rate environment expectations'. Bonus$aver, StanChart's flagship deposit account, features a tiered interest rate structure, rewarding clients who deepen their engagement with the bank through activities such as salary crediting, card spend, insurance and investment. A new enhancement to the investment category will allow equity trades of at least S$20,000 through its online trading service, SC Online Trading, to qualify for interest alongside unit trust purchases. Account holders will still have to fulfil several criteria to earn the bonus interest rates – including crediting a minimum monthly salary of S$3,000 and spending a minimum of S$1,000 on eligible credit and debit cards. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up With the new rates, account holders who meet the criteria are now able to earn a bonus interest rate of 1.5 per cent each year, up from 1 per cent, for card spend and salary credit. They will also have to be insured and investing with the bank, where they can enjoy interest rates of up to 2.5 per cent. While its base interest rate of 0.05 per cent remains unchanged, interest rates across all other engagement pillars were raised to provide 'additional value to clients'. With all conditions met, clients are able to earn the maximum interest rate of 8.05 per cent on the first average daily balance of S$100,000. 'By integrating banking with wealth solutions, we're offering clients a smarter way to grow their savings while deepening their relationship with the bank,' said Usman Khalid, global and Singapore head for deposits, mortgages and payments at StanChart. The inclusion comes with the bank's effort to recognise the growing interest in stock trading. The lender said that new client acquisition jumped 50 per cent in 2024. Its online trading platform also saw a rise of more than 65 per cent in trading volumes last year. For the first time, the bank is also offering shares tied with new clients opening a deposit account from now till Jun 30. Besides opening the account, they would also have to apply for a Bonus$aver World Mastercard credit card with a deposit of minimally S$50,000 in fresh funds. These new clients will then receive 50 units of SPDR Straits Times Index ETF, which is the first locally created exchange-traded fund. 'The Bonusaver headline rate matches the overall relationship value clients have with Standard Chartered, covering daily banking as well as wealth solutions,' said Khalid. 'While we continuously monitor macro trends, this holistic approach allows us to sustainably offer such a proposition, rewarding clients who choose us as their primary banking partner.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
StanChart: OPEC+ Is About To Become Much More Transparent
A week ago, the 39th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, chaired by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy. According to a press release, the group pledged to 'develop a mechanism to assess the maximum sustainable production capacity (MSC) of member countries that will be used as reference for 2027 production baselines'. Whereas the long-term nature of the undertaking elicited little response from oil markets, commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have noted that this is a highly significant development. According to StanChart, establishing MSCs is likely to involve a series of data-related tasks over the next year, a task that's unlikely to prove too difficult. Indeed, the ongoing unwinding of voluntary cuts suggests that the market has tended to overestimate sustainable capacity of some producers and has, therefore, frequently overestimated spare capacity. StanChart says setting MSC levels will improve the visibility and transparency of member countries, making it much harder for some OPEC+ members to obfuscate the degree of their non-compliance with their pledges by creating opaque data flows and vague (or shifting) definitions. This move will give more accurate production data thus reducing oil price second key OPEC+ decision came on 31 May, with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman agreeing to continue the accelerated unwinding of the 2023 production cuts by 411kb/d in July 2025. July's accelerated clip was similar to that for the previous two months. Previous media reports had warned that the group might decide to unwind more than 411kb/d if the worst overproducers (Kazakhstan and Iraq) continued to defy calls to stick to their quotas. However, an Algerian government press release revealed that no such discussion took place. And now StanChart says that oil markets are likely to remain relatively well balanced for the remainder of the year--if OPEC+ sticks to its current trajectory. According to the analysts, current balances imply a global stock draw of 0.4 mb/d in the third quarter, which will be offset by a 0.4 mb/d inventory build in the final quarter of the year. Contributing to the balance will be the continuation of significant non-OPEC+ supply underperformance relative to consensus expectations in 2025, coupled with relatively robust demand growth which is expected to clock in at 1.17 mb/d in 2025 and 1.07 mb/d in 2026. Meanwhile, current low prices are likely to create some additional potential demand upside. Looking at natural gas markets, the ongoing seasonal build in EU gas inventories accelerated sharply over the past week. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data, EU gas inventories clocked in at 56.79 billion cubic metres (bcm) on 1 June, good for a w/w build of 3.057 bcm. This marked the first time the w/w net injection exceeded 3 bcm since August 2022, with last week's build nearly 50% above the previous week's mark and 24% higher than the five-year average. The faster-than-average build has trimmed the y/y deficit to 24.44 bcm, lower than the 30.07 bcm deficit reached in mid-April. Natural gas prices have failed to sustain the momentum they built in the first three weeks of May: Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas for July delivery settled at EUR 35.015 per megawatt hour (MWh) on 2 June, good for a w/w fall of EUR 2.354/MWh. Europe's gas prices have underperformed other energy prices in the year-to-date, by a significant margin. The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly release was bullish, with the deficit in combined crude oil and oil product inventories relative to the five-year average widening by 7.04 mb w/w to 47.76 mb--the largest since December 2022. Crude oil inventories fell 2.8 mb w/w to 440.36 mb, with inventories now 30.22mb below the five-year average. Meanwhile, U.S. crude exports fell 794 kb/d w/w, tempered by a counter-seasonal 162 kb/d fall in crude oil refinery runs as well as a 262 kb/d increase in imports. However, demand indicators for the month of May were weak, with gasoline demand down 4.8% y/y, jet fuel demand down 0.4% and distillate demand down 1.4%. The U.S. oil rig count declined by four w/w to a 42-month low of 461, marking a fifth consecutive weekly decline according to the latest Baker-Hughes survey. The Permian Basin rig count fell by one to a 42-month low of 278; the Midland Basin rig count fell by one to 98, Delaware Basin activity remained unchanged at 157 rigs, and other Permian drilling was unchanged at 23 rigs. In contrast, the U.S. gas rig count climbed by a single rig w/w to 99. By Alex Kimani for More Top Reads From this article on Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
StanChart steps up as Asean's gateway to the Gulf as Islamic finance matures
[SINGAPORE] Capital, trade and wealth flows are washing onto the shores of South-east Asia and the Middle East, and Islamic finance stands out as a promising frontier poised to capture investments well beyond the trillions. As an international bank whose footprint spans markets that are home to nearly three-quarters of the world's Muslims, Standard Chartered can act as a 'super-connector between the East and West', said its head of banking and coverage for Singapore and Asean, corporate and investment banking, Chow Wan Thonh. Standard Chartered's head of banking and coverage for Singapore and Asean, corporate and investment banking, Chow Wan Thonh, believes the lender can act as a 'super-connector between the East and West'. PHOTO: STANDARD CHARTERED Islamic finance refers to banking systems and financial transactions that adhere to its religious law, or Sharia, and operate on several key principles of interest-free lending, risk-sharing and halal investments that avoid the alcohol, tobacco and gambling sectors. What was once a niche alternative financial choice is rapidly gaining traction in today's world, noted the veteran banker. Having charted consistent growth over the past several years, the Islamic finance landscape is forecast to maintain its upward trajectory with total assets expected to surpass US$7.5 trillion by 2028, she cited. 'There is growing acceptance of Islamic banking products in many of the key markets we operate in, such as Bangladesh, Brunei, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia and Pakistan,' said Chow. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up 'We are already responding to this growing demand, be it investing in our human capital development or introducing innovative tailor-made financial solutions.' Bridging the Gulf Malaysia's Asean chairmanship this year stands as an opportunity for the bank to further develop its Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) corridor, said Chow. The GCC – comprising the six Arab countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE – is a political and economic alliance whose clout has been growing as the Middle East actively expands its trade networks beyond traditional oil and gas mainstays. She highlighted that Malaysia and UAE are home to StanChart's regional hubs. The lender began offering Islamic banking products in 1993, before Standard Chartered Saadiq was incorporated in 2008 as a full-fledged Islamic banking subsidiary serving both retail and corporate clients. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of the first StanChart Islamic banking branch in Kuala Lumpur in 2008 with (from left) former chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim; former Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; and the bank's then managing director and chief executive Julian Wynter. PHOTO: NEW STRAITS TIMES PRESS 'Malaysia is a leader in the Islamic finance space whether in Asean or internationally,' continued the banking and coverage chief. 'Its Islamic banking sector is expected to sustain its momentum in 2025 with assets worth more than US$260 billion and asset growth of 8.6 per cent, outpacing the 4.1 per cent growth of the overall banking industry in 2024.' All things considered, the bank is 'well-positioned' to drive cross-border growth between the two regions, she told The Business Times. 'This helps to bridge the trade finance gap and make global trade more transparent, sustainable and equitable, and also means that we are naturally diversified as those dynamic corridors of globalisation are growing at a fast pace.' Reading the coffee grounds As far as Chow is concerned, Asean and the GCC remain bright spots in 2025, boasting healthy growth potential despite an overcast global economic outlook. She expects healthy growth in South-east Asia that continues outpacing other regions, and resilient growth in the GCC stemming from robust non-oil pillars – as the region's focus on long-term transformation continues to shield it from global economic challenges. 'We are seeing a redefinition of the corridors of globalisation,' concluded Chow. 'The key development themes across Asean and the GCC lie in trade and investment, as well as digitalisation and sustainability, where we see the most potential for growth.'
The Star
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Investment banks anticipate Bank Negara's 25bps OPR cut in 2H25
KUALA LUMPUR: Investment banks expect Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to lower the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) in the second half of 2025 (2H 2025) amid softer first quarter (1Q) growth and tariff disruptions. Public Investment Bank Bhd said the earlier 100 bps reduction in the Statutory Reserve Requirement (SRR) is expected to serve as a timely liquidity buffer, allowing BNM to maintain a data-dependent stance amid elevated external volatility. Should the 90-day tariff suspension lapse without renewal, raising Malaysia's effective tariff exposure to 24 per cent, the investment bank anticipated a more front-loaded policy response, comprising two 25 bps OPR cuts in 2H 2025. "This would be intended to mitigate negative spillovers on trade performance, investment activity and broader economic sentiment. "With three scheduled policy meetings remaining this year -- July 9, Sept 4 and Nov 6 -- the window for calibration remains open, though timing will depend on incoming data and developments surrounding global trade negotiations,' it said in a note today. Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank said the projection was made in view of external uncertainties and modest inflationary environment. As for Standard Chartered (StanChart), it continued to expect BNM to cut the policy rate by 25 bps in July, with more cuts (beyond 25 bps) in 2025 likely if data deteriorates by more than expected. The bank has lowered its 2025 gross domestic growth (GDP) growth forecast to 4.2 per cent from 5.0 per cent previously on weaker-than-expected 1Q GDP growth and tariff disruptions. "We estimate that a 24 per cent and 10 per cent reciprocal tariff rate will subtract 0.7 percentage point (ppt) and 0.4 ppt respectively, from GDP, assuming that 30 per cent of Malaysia's exports are exempt from tariffs and a United States (US) import elasticity rate of 0.5 times. "The hit to GDP from a fall in demand of trading partners will also likely weigh on growth in 2025,' it said. Nevertheless, StanChart expects consumer spending and investment are likely to remain the key pillars of growth in 2025. - Bernama
Business Recorder
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Stanchart builds US-based private equity team amid investment bank push
LONDON: Standard Chartered has created a dedicated team covering private equity firms, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds, as part of a wider drive in its investment bank to win more business from financial clients, the bank said on Thursday. The bank will appoint a global head of financial sponsors in due course, it said, reporting to Molly Duffy and Jerry Zhang, its global co-heads of financial institution coverage, with Duffy leading the financial sponsors team until then. The team will initially be comprised of around 25 bankers, with some external hires to come, and will be based in New York with hubs in London and Dubai, StanChart said. The move signals the importance the Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused StanChart places on growing its income from other financial firms, which the bank said currently account for 51% of its total investment banking income and which generate higher returns on average. It also serves as a contrast to rival HSBC which earlier this year slashed its U.S. and European M&A and equity capital markets businesses, part of its biggest investment banking retrenchment in a decade as it focuses even more on Asia. Tech Accelerator: Standard Chartered Pakistan launches '7th Cohort of Futuremakers Women' While Wall Street banks have dominated global investment banking league tables in recent years, Wall Street bosses now fear an anti-American backlash amid President Donald Trump's trade war that could hurt their business. StanChart's push into the world of U.S. financial clients is the latest in an overhaul of its investment banking coverage model, which included the creation of a new banking team to cover big cross border deals, reported by Reuters last September. The bank is stepping up efforts to serve private equity clients in particular as well as targeting banks, insurers and asset managers, Sunil Kaushal, co-head of corporate and investment banking at StanChart, said. The announcement on Thursday coincides with a presentation on investment bank strategy to investors, the latest in a series of such presentations aimed at explaining its overall business strategy in greater detail.
