The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0906 GMT - Binance's founder, former CEO and majority owner Changpeng Zhao says governments can realize financial gains and develop financial industries by 'tokenizing' some of their assets, on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Tokenization is the process of creating a digital representation of a real thing, and can be used to process large amounts of data or enable fractional ownership. If governments tokenize their assets, they will be able to actually realize financial gains first and develop financial industries, says Zhao--who still owns majority of Binance. Zhao says he is talking with dozens of governments about tokenization. Payments hasn't been really conquered yet in crypto, but behind the scenes, it is emerging and he foresees it being bigger in the future, he says on the panel. (aimee.look@wsj.com)
0752 GMT - United Overseas Bank's credit costs are likely to have normalized in 4Q, says Macquarie Capital's Jayden Vantarakis in an email. The Singapore lender built sufficient buffers in 3Q, lifting its general allowance and specific coverage to levels that are comparable with peers, he says. Credit card fees are typically strong in 4Q and UOB is more exposed to this segment than other local banks, he adds. He also views UOB's wealth business as an opportunity, given it is underweight in that segment relative to peers. Macquarie upgrades its rating on UOB to outperform from neutral and raises its target price to S$41.00 from S$31.91. Shares rise 2.1% to S$37.54. (megan.cheah@wsj.com; amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0750 GMT - Malaysia's central bank appears set for a prolonged hold, keeping the policy rate unchanged at 2.75% throughout 2026 as growth remains firm and inflation stays contained, Capital Economics senior Asia economist Gareth Leather says in a note. Bank Negara's latest announcement signals it's in no rush to adjust rates. With December's headline inflation standing at 1.6%, a level policymakers are likely comfortable with, despite BNM not operating with a formal target, he says. With advance estimates showing an "impressive" 5.7% GDP growth in 4Q 2025, CE thinks policymakers are likely to see little urgency to cut rates further, with 2026 growth expected at around 5%. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
0749 GMT - Deutsche Boerse's 5.30 billion-euro deal to acquire Allfunds was reached on terms that are different from those first disclosed in November and is expected to boost earnings within the first year, JPMorgan analysts write. The deal should lead to a cash earnings-per-share benefit in the high-single percentage digit range in the full year after completion, JPM says. While European fund-technology company Allfunds is still valued at 8.80 a share, Deutsche Boerse is offering 6 euros in cash, 2.60 in its own stock and a dividend of up to 20 European cents per Allfunds share. In November, the German stock-exchange operator said it would split the cash and stock components equally at 4.30 euros, plus a 20 European-cent dividend, for each Allfunds share. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)
0631 GMT - The sharp rise in yen rates may have been a near-term overshoot, but uncertainty around fiscal expansion and funding has certainly increased due to the lower house dissolution, Barclays' rates strategists say in a note. This suggests pressures on superlong-term premium are unlikely to recede significantly and may even return, depending on political dynamics, they say. "We see concerns around debt sustainability as a factor behind the rise in yen rates," Uncertainty around fiscal expansion, including potential VAT cuts, and related funding raiseㄴ concerns about fiscal discipline, which led to an abrupt expansion of the term premium, they say. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)
0618 GMT - India could a key market for Binance as it works towards its goal of reaching 1 billion customers. The country is an "extremely big" market with a tech-savvy, young population where cryptocurrency is being embraced, says Binance Co-Chief Executive Richard Teng in an interview with CNBC at the Davos World Economic Forum. Despite India's population taking to cryptocurrency quickly, its regulators are more wary of the asset class and scrutinize it closely. Binance has therefore been "working closely" with India's policy makers, says Teng. "I think [a] lack of knowledge sometimes causes misgivings," he says, noting former crypto sceptics are turning into believers after gaining "deep understanding" of the asset. The Binance co-CEO believes the company can offer the requisite knowledge to regulators and encourage them to embrace the sector. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0336 GMT - Kiatnakin Phatra Bank's asset-quality outlook is favorable on falling credit costs, UOB Kay Hian's Thanawat Thangchadakorn says in a research report. The Thai bank's credit costs dropped 27 bps in 4Q, thanks to the effectiveness of its continued efforts in asset-quality management, the analyst says. A key positive surprise in the bank's 4Q results is an on-quarter reduction in its provision expenses. The brokerage lifts its 2026 and 2027 earnings forecasts for Kiatnakin Phatra Bank by 4.4% and 2.6%, respectively. It also raises the stock's target price to THB72.00 from THB68.00, with an unchanged hold rating. Shares are 0.7% higher at THB69.50. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
0332 GMT - Bank Indonesia is expected to lower rates to support economic growth amid a prevailing negative output gap, Goldman Sachs economists say in a note. BI reiterated that there remains scope for further rate cuts, though the timing will be data-dependent, with policy decisions guided mainly by inflation expectations, especially core inflation, they note. A cumulative 50 bps of easing is expected by Goldman Sachs, with 25bp cuts in 1Q and 2Q, respectively, bringing the policy rate to 4.25%, although risks are skewed to the hawkish side if currency pressures persist. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
0231 GMT - Macquarie gets a new bull in UBS, which sees the exit of its Macquarie Asset Management unit from public markets in the U.S. and Europe as a positive development. The transition will shift MAM's focus more toward private markets, particularly infrastructure. "However, with ongoing concerns around CGM's performance and the timing of asset realizations, we think the market has not fully factored in the implications of this divestment on MAM's fee structure, and performance fee potential," analyst John Storey says. CGM refers to Macquarie's Commodities and Global Markets division. UBS upgrades Macquarie to buy, from neutral, and raises its price target by 4.4% to A$235.00/share. Macquarie is up 2.4% at A$210.84. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1328 GMT - This year should be a very exciting one in terms of IPO activity, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Ted Pick tells Bloomberg in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Companies are thinking bigger and the stakes are especially high with this round of potential IPOs, which Bloomberg commentators said included OpenAI and SpaceX. Some of the companies that might go public this year have "a little bit of a change-the-world feel to them," Pick says. He says that companies that could debut this year paradoxically have both high market capitalizations and the potential to be mega-growers. One thing that distinguishes them from earlier rounds of IPOs is that they have not rushed to go public, leading to an important degree of anticipation, he adds.(william.gray@wsj.com)
1324 GMT - JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon warns that the proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates proposed by President Trump's administration would be an "economic disaster." The cap would remove credit for 80% of Americans and hurt restaurants, retailers, travel companies, schools and municipalities more than the credit card companies, Dimon says in a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I think it's wrong for the government to get involved extensively in pricing of stuff," he adds. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
1318 GMT - Belgium's Argenta Spaarbank issued 500 million euros in a debut European green bond on Wednesday, LSEG data showed. The green bond is a senior non-preferred bond, a risky type of bank debt issued to meet regulatory capital requirements. The bond's maturity date is on Feb. 2, 2034. "The senior non-preferred bond is issued at a moment that the market's nervousness around Trump's Greenland related tariff intensions has fully cancelled out the positive start of the year, particularly for bail-in senior and AT1," ING's Maureen Schuller says in a note. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 22, 2026 04:20 ET (09:20 GMT)
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