Fitch recently revised Rwanda’s outlook to negative from stable amid concerns about rising public sector debt.
As commercial lenders look beyond the pandemic, three fast-growing sectors represent new risks.
Economic risks facing banks in New Zealand are rising because of soaring house prices over the past 12 months.
Over the past 10 years, almost 21,000 branches have closed in Spain. By comparison Germany has closed 14,000, while Italy has shuttered 10,000.
Looting and arson forced the closure of hundreds of branches and caused widespread damage to ATM infrastructure.
Closer ties with the City of London likely to encourage further fintech investment into Kenyan capital.
As low rates squeeze margins, lenders are leveraging tech to expand into a range of non-core digital services.
Uncertain political situation after president sacks prime minister likely to affect the operating environment for Tunisian banks.
Citigroup, Standard Chartered and HSBC bet that new opportunities in mainland China will outweigh damage to Hong Kong’s status as a global financial centre.
Bank profitability forecast to improve in the near term on the back of a decline in provisions after a pandemic-related spike in 2020.
Influential new authority could have direct supervisory powers and will seek to improve co-ordination between national supervisors.
The country’s economy is forecast to grow 6% this year on the back of a recovery of consumption and increase in public investments.
As digitalisation forces branch closures and online services become more personalised, banks could still retain in-person services.
Reliance on net interest income as a key driver of operating revenue could lead to ongoing profitability weakness.
A government-backed securitisation scheme has helped turn Italian banks’ balance sheets around. But as Covid-19 support measures ease, bad loans are expected to rise.
Demand for digital-only services has flourished, but many people still prefer to pay their salaries into an incumbent high street bank.
Global regulator proposes high risk-weight for bitcoin and ethereum, in contrast to reserve-backed cryptoassets such as stablecoins.
In the first quarter of 2021, foreign fintech investment created 351 jobs, compared to 27 created in traditional financial services, according to fDi Markets.
Critics say proposed minimum capital requirements will disadvantage EU banks and hamper the eurozone’s recovery from Covid-19.
The People’s Bank of China has set up a joint venture with Swift, and has conducted experiments with other central banks.