Tag Archives: bank

Food & Drink

Bank Mandiri raises donations for local food banks | Lifestyle | Instant News


The Independent Bank received more than $ 11,776 in cash donations along with 970 perishable food items to support its seventh annual “Feed a Family for $ 5 with Meal Share” campaign.

These donations, combined with a $ 10,000 debit card grocery match promise for a total of $ 21,776, will be distributed to local food banks throughout North Alabama and distributed to area families in need.

“The charities we support throughout the year through our Helping Hands initiative provide vital assistance to families in distress,” said Macke Mauldin, President and CEO of BancIndependent. “Sharing Food allows us to focus our efforts and influence families by meeting their most basic needs. We are grateful to the wonderful local organizations that address these needs on a daily basis. We are honored to partner them through this journey and throughout the year. “

The coronavirus pandemic changes Food Share plans in 2020, prompting Independent Banks to engage directly with local food banks to support their immediate needs. In comparison to this year’s drive, the sixth annual Food Share drive completed in 2019 raised more than $ 562 in cash donations and more than 9,850 types of nonperishable food.

“We could never have anticipated such an overwhelmingly positive response to the” Feed a Family for $ 5 “campaign,” said Nikki Randolph, Community Engagement Officer at Bank Independent. “While some businesses and private donors quietly make large donations to the drive, most cash donations are made $ 5 at a time either at one of our bank locations or through our online PayPal donation option. Thank you for everyone’s generous donation, we were able to feed more than 5,000 families through the Food Share collection. “

Local food bank partners helped inspire the campaign, as the Community Engagement Team knew that in the right hands, a simple $ 5 donation could feed a family for a day. An example of a grocery collection illustrating how much $ 5 worth of purchaseable food is placed on display in the Bank Independent drive-thru window. Randolph credits display reminders for moving customers to help make a positive difference through the Food Share drive.

Donations will be distributed to local organizations that maintain food banks to meet emergency food needs, including: Church Cooperation Committee in Morgan County, Environmental Christian Center in Decatur, Lawrence County and Franklin County Human Resources Department, Limestone County Involved Church, Inc., Sidney’s Safe! Foundation, The Barrel Food Project at the Shelf and Manna House in Huntsville.

As part of an ongoing effort to complement its annual Food Share program, the bank pledged to donate 10 cents for every Independent Bank debit card transaction made at the grocery store, up to $ 10,000. This amount is fulfilled and will be distributed to all local partner organizations related to the Food Share donation.

The Food Share drive is part of the Independent Bank Helping Hands program, which also includes employee volunteering, donations and sponsorship. Other Sharing Drives include a Shelter Share to benefit animal shelters, a Toy Share to collect toys for the holidays and a School Share drive for school supplies.

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Switzerland

Swiss digital private bank startup, Alpian, raised $ 18 million | Instant News


Alpian, Switzerland’s first mass-market digital private bank, has raised US $ 18 million in its Series B funding round

Alpian, which is incubated by Swiss banking group Reyl & Cie, plans to launch this year – subject to a full banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

This startup is targeting a sizeable demographic in Switzerland – those with investable assets of between CHF100,000 and CHF1 million.

The company plans to persuade these mass wealthy clients by using a combination of machine intelligence and human advisors to create a unique portfolio aligned with personal “preferences, beliefs, philosophies and goals.”

In addition to the core personal banking offering, each account will come with a debit card and a multi-currency account. Alpian also invests in the creation of educational content on financial matters through its recently launched i-vest platform.

Schuyler Weiss, CEO, Alpian, said: “While the Series A fundraiser was aimed at building a digital bank, the Series B fundraising was intended to be used in principle to launch the bank on the Swiss market.

“This approach ensures that Alpian will be in a strong position to provide the best possible service to its customers by the end of this year subject to the issuance of a full banking license by Finma.”

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Germany

Commerzbank will lay off 1,700 jobs in Germany | Instant News


Commerzbank will cut 1,700 jobs in Germany under a voluntary redundancy program due to be completed by the end of the year.

The cuts mark the start of a three-year cost reduction program announced in January that will result in 10,000 job losses and the closure of 340 branches by 2024.

The bank, which employs nearly 50,000 people worldwide, said that one in every three jobs in its home market in Germany would be lost while its 790 branch network would be reduced to 450.

Following negotiations with union leaders, Commerzbank will offer workers a voluntary termination agreement starting July 2021.

“The voluntary program is an important step in reducing the number of staff required,” commented Sabine Schmittroth, a board member in charge of the group’s human resources. “We are quickly providing instruments that will reduce the cost base in the coming year.”

In the first quarter of 2021, the bank will post restructuring fees totaling around € 470 million to cover program costs.

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Brazil

China and Brazil have the greenest central banks in the world, activists say | Instant News


FRANKFURT: China has the greenest central bank in the world, followed by Brazil, both of which beat the rich nations thanks to concrete steps such as lowering lending rates for pollution countermeasures projects, an activist group said on Wednesday (March 31).

The UK-based campaign group, Positive Money, ranks the central banks and financial watchdogs of the G20 countries based on how much they are doing to fight climate change.

Only three of them made it through: China, Brazil and France.

The results may surprise some because China, which ranks highest in the report, is one of the world’s biggest polluters and Brazil has faced criticism for destroying parts of the Amazon rainforest.

But the study’s authors said financial policymakers in both countries acted earlier precisely because they faced a greater environmental threat.

“This makes environmental impacts and risks more immediate and relevant for central bankers and their supervisors, and could generate a greater impetus for greening their policymaking processes,” said Positive Money.

For example, the People’s Bank of China’s first green initiative dates back to 1995 and banks are now being asked to offer cheaper loans for green projects, the report said.

Brazil stands out for limiting financing for crop expansion in the Amazon and other vulnerable regions.

READ: Trench lending rules in favor of polluters, says the ECB think tank

France, which derives much of its monetary policy and financial regulation from the European Union, beat its EU counterparts to third thanks to the extra points earned through its own climate pressure tests of major banks and insurance companies.

This comes on top of steps taken by the European Central Bank, which has started demanding that banks consider climate change when making loans and is considering adopting a green bias in bond purchases.

The report focuses primarily on official policies and does not reflect the effectiveness of their implementation.

NO CONSENSUS

The role of central banks in fighting climate change is the object of a growing global debate, but so far there has been no consensus on what to do next.

A report by 89 institutions published last week found that all policy options, such as bending central bank funding to benefit green issuers or punishing polluters, have drawbacks.

The main problem is that engaging in climate policy will raise questions about the two sacred cows of the past three decades: the independence of the central bank from politics and its singular focus on inflation, plus several countries with jobs.

Indeed, China’s central bank is not independent from its government whereas Brazil has just been granted autonomy.

Positive Money advocates dispelling such doubts as the costs of inaction will be even greater, and calls for a halt to funding for polluters.

“Targeting the most high-risk and environmentally hazardous assets – such as those associated with fossil fuel extraction – to be excluded from monetary policy operations and constraints or punitive factors in prudential policy will be an important first step,” he said in the report.

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Brazil

China and Brazil have the greenest central banks in the world, activists say | Instant News


FRANKFURT (Reuters) – China has the greenest central bank in the world, followed by Brazil, both of which have outperformed rich nations thanks to concrete steps such as lowering lending rates for pollution-fighting projects, an activist group said on Wednesday.

FILE PHOTO: A masked man walks past the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, as the country was hit by the new coronavirus outbreak, February 3, 2020. REUTERS / Jason Lee

The UK-based campaign group, Positive Money, ranks the central banks and financial watchdogs of the G20 countries based on how much they are doing to fight climate change.

Only three of them made it through: China, Brazil and France.

The results may surprise some because China, which ranks highest in the report, is one of the world’s biggest polluters and Brazil has faced criticism for destroying parts of the Amazon rainforest.

But the study’s authors said financial policymakers in both countries acted earlier precisely because they faced a greater environmental threat.

“This makes environmental impacts and risks more immediate and relevant for central bankers and their supervisors, and could generate a greater impetus for greening their policymaking processes,” said Positive Money.

For example, the People’s Bank of China’s first green initiative dates back to 1995 and banks are now being asked to offer cheaper loans for green projects, the report said.

Brazil stands out for limiting financing for crop expansion in the Amazon and other vulnerable regions.

France, which derives much of its monetary policy and financial regulation from the European Union, beat its EU counterparts to third thanks to the extra points earned through its own climate pressure tests of major banks and insurance companies.

This comes on top of steps taken by the European Central Bank, which has started demanding that banks consider climate change when making loans and is considering adopting a green bias in bond purchases.

The report focuses primarily on official policies and does not reflect the effectiveness of their implementation.

NO CONSENSUS

The role of central banks in fighting climate change is the object of a growing global debate, but so far there has been no consensus on what to do next.

A report by 89 institutions published last week found that all policy options, such as bending central bank funding to benefit green issuers or punishing polluters, have drawbacks.

The main problem is that engaging in climate policy will raise questions about the two sacred cows of the past three decades: the independence of the central bank from politics and its singular focus on inflation, plus several countries with jobs.

Indeed, China’s central bank is not independent from its government whereas Brazil has just been granted autonomy.

Positive Money advocates dispelling such doubts as the costs of inaction will be even greater, and calls for a halt to funding for polluters.

“Targeting the most high-risk and environmentally hazardous assets – such as those associated with fossil fuel extraction – for exclusion from monetary policy operations and constraints or punitive factors in prudential policy will be an important first step,” he said in the report.

Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Edited by Marguerita Choy

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