Financial services

The European Union on Tuesday proposed making it harder for states to pour billions of euros of aid into an ailing bank, as Italy did with Monte dei Paschi di Siena six years ago.

Proposals from the EU's executive seek to ensure that banks hold enough resources, in particular debt that can be written down to release cash in a crisis, to avoid taxpayer handouts.

US banks may become more circumspect in granting loans following recent turmoil in the sector, the country's treasury secretary said in an interview to air Sunday, while still predicting "moderate" GDP growth.    

The financial sector was rocked last month by the dramatic collapse of Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).    

BELGRADE - National Bank of Serbia (NBS) gross FX reserves reached 21.38 bln euros at end-March, their highest end-of-month level on record since monitoring began in 2000, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The FX reserves increased by 184.4 mln euros compared to the previous month.

The World Bank's ongoing reform could result in a $50 billion lending boost over the next decade, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told AFP ahead of stakeholders' meetings this week where key changes are expected to be announced.

A draft law on managing assets confiscated over criminal activity was the last Finance Ministry bill to be voted in the plenary before elections.

The bill was approved in principle by ruling New Democracy votes alone.

Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said Switzerland's economy would probably have collapsed had Credit Suisse gone bankrupt, in an interview published yesterday.

Keller-Sutter told Le Temps newspaper that the government had acted in the country's best interests in swiftly arranging the takeover of Switzerland's second-biggest bank by its larger domestic rival UBS.

Central banks around the world should keep battling inflation by hiking interest rates despite ongoing concerns about financial stability, the head of the International Monetary Fund has told AFP.

Since last year, central banks have been raising their benchmark lending rates to tackle inflation, which rose to levels not seen for decades in many countries including the United States.

The Swiss attorney general's office says it has opened a probe into the events surrounding embattled bank Credit Suisse, which is to be taken over by rival UBS.

This is a good period for decisions on savings, as the yields time deposits offer today range between 1%-2%, depending on the duration and amount. They have incorporated the rise in interest rates and therefore no more aggressive moves are expected in the near future.

The merger between banks Credit Suisse and UBS could see up to 36,000 jobs being cut across the world, the SonntagsZeitung weekly reported yesterday.

The takeover by UBS of Credit Suisse was hastily arranged by the Swiss government on March 19 to prevent a global financial meltdown, following fears of contagion from the collapse of banks in the United States.