Italian President Sergio Mattarella asked Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Sunday to try to form a new government, giving him a mandate to lead Italy out of a political crisis caused by the resignation of Matteo Renzi. Gentiloni, a former journalist and Renzi loyalist, is set to be Italy's fifth prime minister in as many years and the fourth in a row to take office without winning a national election. The soft-spoken 62-year-old immediately began consultations to form a government that will have to write a new electoral law and manage Italy's fragile banks. Chief among his duties will be dealing quickly with Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the country's third-largest lender, which may need state intervention to avoid collapse. "I am aware of the urgent need to give Italy a government with full powers, to reassure our fellow citizens, to confront our international, economic and social priorities," he said. Italy's social and political divisions were laid bare in campaigning for a Dec. 4 … [Read more...] about Italy hurries to form new government as banking crisis looms
Banking crisis
No banking crisis in Vietnam, cbanker says
Vietnam is not experiencing a banking crisis, despite a quick increase in non-performing loans recently and plans to restructure the troubled sector, the central bank governor, Nguyen Van Binh, said on Thursday. "There is no banking crisis in Vietnam," Binh said in remarks carried live on state media. Economists have expressed growing concern about the health of the banking system after soaring inflation and slumping property prices followed years of unsustainably high credit growth. Rumours have circulated for months that some smaller banks are already technically insolvent, but none have collapsed publicly and the central bank has pledged to stave off bank failures. The State Bank of Vietnam has been encouraging mergers of weak banks with stronger ones and Binh told an economic forum on Wednesday he expected as many as eight banks to be merged during the first quarter of 2012. But there is little clarity about the central bank's plans for handling non-performing loans, which … [Read more...] about No banking crisis in Vietnam, cbanker says
Eurozone crisis drives stocks lower despite Facebook frenzy
World stock markets fell again in nervous trade on Friday and the euro hit a new four-month low against the dollar as ratings agencies further downgraded Greek and Spanish banks. Even the much-awaited largest-ever tech company IPO, Facebook, could not reverse sentiment and very nearly turned into a money-losing flop itself, with underwriters forced to prop the shares up above the $38 initial public subscription price. "There is little respite in the eurozone banking crisis which is having spillover effects on the global economy and global financial markets," said VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon. "Investors are worried about deposit-runs in the eurozone banking system and the 'flight of capital' is pushing US, UK and German bond yields lower." "Market confidence continued to erode this week due to events in Europe, including capital flight from Greece and the downgrade of several Spanish banks," said Economists Paul Edelstein and Nigel Gault at IHS Global Insight. … [Read more...] about Eurozone crisis drives stocks lower despite Facebook frenzy
Global regulator eases liquidity rules for banks
BASEL, Switzerland (VNS) - The world's top banking regulatory body has eased the first global liquidity rules scheduled to start applying to banks in 2015 and aimed at improving their ability to survive financial crises. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Sunday said at a press conference here that it had widened the definition of the easy-to-sell assets that banks will have to hold to survive periods of stress. The Basel III standards had been initially proposed in 2010 but banks and financial institutions have since lobbied intensely to make the rules more flexible and result in lower costs for the sector. The details of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), which was drafted to avoid a repeat of the 2008 banking crisis and unanimously endorsed on Sunday by the Basel group's top oversight body, give the banks a reprieve. Its provisions include a much broader definition of the minimum assets every bank needs to hold, making it less costly for them to maintain … [Read more...] about Global regulator eases liquidity rules for banks
Vietnam’s economy ‘not in a crisis,’ says ANZ
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) said Vietnam's economy isn't facing a crisis, with cash still flowing easily through the country's banking system and inflation likely to slow. A new urban area in Ho Chi Minh City. Predictions of economic downturn in Vietnam is not as bad as believed, an ANZ executive says. … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s economy ‘not in a crisis,’ says ANZ