Banks

• Banks and credit unions collected an estimated $12.4 billion in overdraft and bounced-payment fees from household checking accounts in 2025. • This total comes from a new tally by the National Consumer Law Center covering all financial institutions nationwide. • These costs hit consumers a year after Congress voted to block a federal rule that would have capped most of these fees at $5.

• European Union financial services commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque rejected requests from banks to divide a comprehensive reform package designed to strengthen the bloc's financial system. • The decision maintains the current structure of the grand plan rather than splitting it into two separate initiatives as banks had demanded. • This outcome forces banks to navigate a single, unified set of regulatory changes instead of a phased or segmented implementation.

• The US Federal Reserve, the UK, and Japan will announce monetary policy decisions on three successive days starting this Wednesday. • These decisions follow key data releases, including a record-low 4.7% unemployment rate in Lima for July. • The outcomes of these meetings may reshape the global monetary policy landscape for the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

• Central banks in the U.S., UK, and Japan will announce interest rate decisions on successive days starting this Wednesday. • These three decisions will follow the release of the August jobs report for Lima, where the unemployment rate reached a record low of 4.7 percent in July. • The outcomes of these meetings may redefine the global monetary policy landscape for the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

• Asia Pacific borrowers surged into the dollar bond market on Tuesday to secure funding before interest rates potentially rise further. • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the largest bank in Japan, is among more than 10 regional issuers seeking to sell debt, including a $3.5 billion offering. • This rush indicates a broader global trend of companies locking in borrowing costs now to avoid more expensive financing in the future.

• Morgan Stanley analysts report that banks in Singapore and Hong Kong are positioned to benefit most from the deepening of Asian capital markets in the second half of the year. • Multinational companies are expanding across Southeast Asia due to geopolitical tensions and a desire to diversify supply chains away from a single manufacturing hub. • Foreign direct investment is specifically flowing into electronics, automotive, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

• Corporate dollar deposits at South Korea's five largest commercial banks reached a record high of 76.98 billion dollars. • This total is the highest aggregate amount recorded since financial institutions began tracking this specific metric in May 2021. • The surge reflects a trend where exporters are keeping foreign earnings in dollars rather than converting them to local currency due to shifting exchange rates.