(Bloomberg) -- U.K. banks, including HSBC Holdings Plc, agreed to scrap dividends and buybacks this year after the regulator pushed to contain spending to shareholders as the coronavirus pandemic upends the industry.HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, Barclays Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc axed their outstanding 2019 dividends and said there would be no payments in 2020 in similar announcements late Tuesday. They also agreed to suspend any buybacks.HSBC, while saying performance has been “resilient” in the first quarter, warned the virus would be a drag on revenue and increase expected loan losses at the start of the year.The moves come after Prudential Regulation Authority wrote to lenders asking them to cancel payments, adding that it “expects banks not to pay any cash bonuses to senior staff, including all material risk takers.” The company statements didn’t mention bonuses.The U.K.’s five biggest banks had planned to pay...
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. banks, including HSBC Holdings Plc, agreed to scrap dividends and buybacks this year after the regulator pushed to contain spending to shareholders as the coronavirus pandemic upends the industry.HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, Barclays Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc axed their outstanding 2019 dividends and said there would be no payments in 2020 in similar announcements late Tuesday. They also agreed to suspend any buybacks.HSBC, while saying performance has been “resilient” in the first quarter, warned the virus would be a drag on revenue and increase expected loan losses at the start of the year.The moves come after Prudential Regulation Authority wrote to lenders asking them to cancel payments, adding that it “expects banks not to pay any cash bonuses to senior staff, including all material risk takers.” The company statements didn’t mention bonuses.The U.K.’s five biggest banks had planned to pay...
(Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus pandemic has frozen the Chinese gold market, torpedoing demand at a time when investors elsewhere in the world are clamoring for the safety of bullion.China is the biggest buyer of gold bars, coins and jewelry, but the national shutdown to contain the virus has emptied malls, while the premium charged to buy the metal in China has evaporated. It leaves the industry staring down a long road to recovery, even as Beijing tries to jump-start broader consumption with a campaign to get shoppers out and about.The market’s struggles in China may present a headwind for prices, which last month topped $1,700 an ounce for the first time in seven years. The traditional haven also faces a drag from slower retail consumption in India, Europe and the U.S., as well as Russia’s surprise decision to halt purchases by its central bank. Last year, Chinese consumers accounted for about...
We're up against an invisible enemy that leaves no clues about its whereabouts. The best protection against coronavirus is to assume it's everywhere and to take proper precautions, like washing your hands. ...
