NEW YORK - The coronavirus pandemic spurred a turn toward nationalism around the world. Now banks are in the vanguard of the movement, central to government rescue efforts in the face of the worst recession since the Great Depression.
While the banks' change of emphasis was spurred by the health crisis, it follows a tide of nationalism reflected in political events from Brexit, to US President Donald Trump's America First policy, to a debate over the future of the European Union. That nationalism in turn may be sharpened by the pandemic: Curbs on overseas travel, state control of some key companies and trillions of dollars of emergency loans point to a strong government role in economies for years to come.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and Bank of America say their global ambitions haven't been dented by the pandemic. BNP Paribas, on the other hand, is the only European bank to have resisted shrinking its US presence since the last crisis. HSBC Holdings is increasing its focus on Asia. Japanese banks need to keep lending overseas because interest margins at home are almost non-existent.
Bank executives are keen to point out, however, that the crisis presents new expansion opportunities. Citigroup's investment banking co-head, Manolo Falco, said retrenchment by the Europeans will thin out global competitors. Deutsche Bank's head of corporate banking, Stefan Hoops, said the institution recently extended more credit in the US to companies including Disney as domestic rivals turned cautious.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »