Category: Business

The recent wave of data from a string of surveys has painted a rather dim picture of the global business climate. More troublingly, these results have planted seeds of uncertainty concerning central banks’ upcoming decisions on interest rates. Amidst all the economic figures and updates, a resounding sentiment is clear: central banks have a bone to pick with cryptocurrencies. Crypto: A Threat or An Opportunity? Cryptocurrencies, or digital assets that…

AIA Group Ltd, one of the largest life insurers in Asia, reported a strong growth in its new business value (VONB) for the first half of 2023, driven by the economic recovery in China and Hong Kong. VONB up 37% year-on-year According to its interim results announcement, AIA’s VONB increased by 37% year-on-year to $2.03 billion in the first six months of 2023, compared to $1.54 billion in the same…

Pakistan has been selected to host the 17th China-South Asia Business Forum in 2024, after participating in the 16th forum held in Kunming, China, where the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) highlighted the need for trade and regional integration between China and South Asian countries. FPCCI President stresses on regional connectivity Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, president of FPCCI, attended the forum organised by the China Council for…

AIA Group, Asia’s largest insurer, posted a 37 per cent increase in its value of new business for the first half of 2023, driven by a robust rebound in sales across its key markets of Mainland China and Hong Kong. The value of new business (VONB), which measures the expected profits from new premiums and is a key indicator of future growth, rose to $2.03 billion in the six months…

Eversource Energy, the largest utility company in New England, has announced that it has left the American Gas Association (AGA), a powerful trade group that represents the interests of the natural gas industry. The utility said that it made the decision to focus on its decarbonization efforts and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Eversource’s climate strategy Eversource, which serves about 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, provides…

New platform to freeze scam payments in real time The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has announced the launch of a new platform that will help banks act quickly to freeze money being sent to scammers by allowing the reporting of bank-to-bank scam payments in close to real time. The platform, called the Fraud Reporting Exchange (FRX), will facilitate the quick reporting of fraudulent payments as they are transferred to another…

S&P Global, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies, has recently downgraded the credit ratings and revised the outlooks for several US banks. These include Associated Banc-Corp, Valley National Bancorp, UMB Financial Corporation, Comerica Bank, KeyCorp, S&T Bank, and River City Bank. This action follows a similar move by Moody’s, which cited weaker profitability and funding risks as factors that will likely test the credit strength of the banking…

Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union (FIGFCU), a $1.5 billion asset-sized credit union serving over 60,000 members nationwide, has announced the launch of its new digital banking platform, Tulee, powered by Constellation Digital Partners (Constellation), a leading cloud-native digital banking services provider. Tulee, which went live earlier this summer, offers FIGFCU members a more enhanced, personalized, and seamless digital banking experience across devices. Tulee: A Customizable and Holistic Digital Banking Experience…

A strategic partnership to enhance vendor management and optimization True Digital Group, a provider of the industry’s first digital vendor optimization network that supports financial institutions in their discovery, implementation, and monitoring of technology vendors, today announced a strategic partnership with Ncontracts, the leading provider of integrated vendor, compliance, and risk management solutions to the financial industry. The partnership will provide banks and credit unions with a more robust and…

The US banking sector is facing a turbulent period as credit rating agencies deliver successive downgrades to several banks. S&P Global and Moody’s have recently lowered credit ratings for regional banks, causing ripples across the financial landscape. These actions come against the backdrop of a challenging lending environment, where factors like weaker funding, deposit outflows, and rising interest rates have raised concerns. S&P Global Downgrades Five Regional Banks S&P Global…