The Global Banker — Banking Industry News &amp; Intelligence

Türkiye's central bank cuts policy rate by 100 basis points to 36% after five holds

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raises key rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% in fourth straight hike

SoFi launches SOFIE deposit token paying 4.40% APY to consumers

Bank of Singapore sets up sustainability advisory team for UHNW clients under Christine Cheong

RHB Bank wins extension to February 2027 for Tokio Marine insurance deal talks

QNB Group raises QAR 750 million in second riyal Shogun bond from Japanese investors

Goldman Sachs launches Small Business AI Institute in $500 million programme expansion

BPI names Maria Cristina “Ginbee” Go chief executive from 26 April 2027

SNB minutes show no need for greater readiness to intervene in forex market

Barclays launches £500m share buyback as third-quarter pre-tax profit rises 12% to £2.3bn

Euroclear appeals Russian ruling on €200.1 billion claim, with hearing on 22 October

Standard Chartered signs agreements to buy Zodia Custody and separate its software arm

OCC issues final GENIUS Act stablecoin rule, effective 18 January 2027

Bank of Singapore sets up sustainability advisory team for UHNW clients under Christine Cheong

Bank of Singapore has launched Sustainability Partners, a team within its chief investment office led by Christine Cheong, that will draw on OCBC Group experts across investments, businesses and multi-generational stewardship.

QNB Group raises QAR 750 million in second riyal Shogun bond from Japanese investors

The three-year transaction is the largest QAR-denominated Shogun bond issuance to date, following QNB Group's inaugural deal in the first quarter of 2025, and was arranged by SMBC.

Goldman Sachs launches Small Business AI Institute in $500 million programme expansion

The bank's Small Business AI Institute, part of a $500 million expansion of 10,000 Small Businesses, will work with Google, Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta to provide AI training and tools to entrepreneurs.

Barclays launches £500m share buyback as third-quarter pre-tax profit rises 12% to £2.3bn

Barclays announced a £500m share buyback as third-quarter pre-tax profit rose 12% to £2.3bn, missing analyst expectations of £2.4bn, with strong equities income offsetting weaker fixed income.

BPI names Maria Cristina “Ginbee” Go chief executive from 26 April 2027

Maria Cristina “Ginbee” Go will become the first female president and CEO of the Philippines' oldest bank on 26 April 2027, succeeding Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco, who stays on the board.

BMO appointed Tim Cox to lead United States banking operations

BMO appointed Tim Cox as United States country head and chief executive of its US subsidiaries from 1 November, while Darrel Hackett moves to an advisory role.

Bank of America appointed two former chief executives to board

Bank of America appointed former Dow chief Jim Fitterling and former KPMG chair Bill Thomas as directors, adding industrial and financial reporting expertise to its board.

OCB appoints Duong Duc Hung as general director from 26 October 2026

Orient Commercial Bank names Duong Duc Hung, who has more than 20 years in banking and finance, as General Director from 26 October 2026, alongside Chris Shayan as Chief Operating Officer.

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Latest issueIssue 08

Q4 2026: Record profits, on a tightrope

The first half paid banks well for volatility, wealth and lending. The rate cycle has now turned, and the second half will test which of those engines keeps running.

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RHB Bank wins extension to February 2027 for Tokio Marine insurance deal talks

RHB Bank now has until 11 February 2027 to negotiate with Tokio Marine Asia over the proposed disposal of up to 100% of RHB Insurance, after Bank Negara Malaysia approved an extension.

LSEG agreed $3.535 billion Octus acquisition to expand global credit data

LSEG agreed to buy New York-based Octus for $3.535 billion in cash, adding private-credit intelligence, data and workflows to its global platform, subject to regulatory approval.

Standard Chartered signs agreements to buy Zodia Custody and separate its software arm

Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to buy 100% of Zodia Custody Limited, with the custody business to join its Securities Services unit and no client disruption expected.

AFG Holding moved to acquire majority stake in Chad housing bank

AFG Holding agreed to become the majority shareholder in Banque de l’Habitat du Tchad through a recapitalisation approved on 14 October, subject to regulatory clearance.

SoFi launches SOFIE deposit token paying 4.40% APY to consumers

SoFi Technologies launches SoFi Earn (SOFIE), a tokenized deposit paying 4.40% APY with each token representing $1 held at SoFi Bank, rolling out to SoFi Crypto members through November.

Danske Bank lets business customers connect AI agents to its Premium APIs

Danske Bank is linking customers' AI assistants directly to its Premium APIs through a Model Context Protocol server, so they can check balances and build cash-flow forecasts with simple prompts.

Google Cloud ended London incident after power event disrupted UK banks

Google ended the London cloud incident after a power event disrupted applications at Revolut, Lloyds, Halifax and HSBC, although its status page said a very small number of customers remained affected.

20 October 2026

Google Cloud outage disrupts Revolut payments and app access across Europe

Revolut reported partial outages across card payments, cash withdrawals, transfers and account access as a Google Cloud disruption affected its London region and other European services.

20 October 2026

European regulators questioned Google after cloud outage disrupted major banks

European and UK regulators sought answers from Google after its London cloud outage disrupted banking services, turning a systems failure into an early test of new critical-provider oversight regimes.

OCC issues final GENIUS Act stablecoin rule, effective 18 January 2027

The OCC's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act takes effect on 18 January 2027 and bans direct yield payments by stablecoin issuers, while third-party arrangements will be judged case by case.

Lebanon's Constitutional Council unanimously struck down disputed banking reform provision

Lebanon's Constitutional Council annulled Article 3 of Law 71 and removed two further clauses, leaving bank-restructuring powers under the Code of Money and Credit framework.

FCA banned former Vector Wealth chief over £4 million investor losses

The FCA banned former Vector Wealth chief executive Jeffrey Dawkins and fined him nearly £270,000 after misconduct linked to mini-bonds expected to cost investors about £4 million.