News
Chávez calls for calm after bank takeovers
President Chávez: no more nationalisationsPresident Hugo Chávez has sought to allay investors' fears after the Venezuelan government took over Banco Federal. The president said he has no plans to take over more banks at this time and he urged people not to withdraw their deposits. The move follows a flurry of bank nationalisations and the creation of a new regulated foreign exchange market to stop the rapid depreciation of the bolivar and stem capital flight - thought to be about $24bn last year.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Hungary's FHB Mortgage bank has agreed to buy Germany-based Allianz's Hungarian banking unit in a share exchange deal. FHB's branch network will increase to more than 70. The deal is part of a 20-year plan with Allianz.
Royal Bank of Scotland is to sell its Pakistan banking unit to Faysal Bank for $51m. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. The move is part of RBS's plan to divest its assets in Asia.
Correction: In an article about structured products in our Commodities supplement in the June issue of The Banker we incorrectly stated Nicolas Cagi-Nicolau's job title. We are happy to clarify Mr Cagi-Nicolau is the global head of structured products solutions at Société Générale Private Banking.
Santander is to buy the remaining 24.9% of Santander Mexico from Bank of America Merrill Lynch for $2.5bn. The bank has offered Royal Bank of Scotland between £1.5bn ($2.2bn) and £1.7bn for its 318 branches in the UK.
Moody's has raised Indonesia's sovereign rating from 'stable' to 'positive' citing the government's sound monetary policy and growth potential. The country is on track to reach 6% growth this year, only just behind China and India, while nearby Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have entered recession.
Bank of Tanzania is tightening capital adequacy requirements for banks to TSh15bn ($10.84m) from TSh5bn. The bank is also raising the minimum level of reserves for other financial institutions from TSh2.5bn to TSh7.5bn. The steps are intended to strengthen the country's financial sector.
