SECURITY BANK Corp. booked a higher net income in the second quarter following the expansion of its core businesses.

YUCHENGCO-LED Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) is on track to grow its bottom line this year by double digits, a senior official said, as the bank’s net income climbed by almost a fourth during the first half.

THE PESO weakened further, returning to the P52-per-dollar level, as markets continued to react to lingering US-China trade tensions.

DAVAO CITY — Top officials of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) announced the opening of two new branches in the Davao Region within the year, but at the same time stressed they are “carefully” phasing the expansion of physical offices in view of the continued development of online banking services.

SYDNEY — Australia’s central bank held rates at an all-time low of 1% on Tuesday as it weighed the impact of past easing, though markets are wagering the tide of policy stimulus sweeping the world will compel it to cut again before yearend.

ASIA UNITED Bank Corp. (AUB) booked a double-digit growth in net income during the first semester, it said yesterday.

WASHINGTON — The four living former chairs of the Federal Reserve on Monday called for the US central bank to remain free to work independently and without fear of political reprisals in a rare joint public statement.

THE PESO sank on Tuesday as tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalated further after the former tagged the latter as a “currency manipulator.”

THE GOVERNMENT made a full award of the Treasury bills (T-bill) it offered yesterday, with rates dropping across all tenors on the back of strong liquidity and following the US Federal Reserve’s rate cut, as well as bets of monetary policy easing by the local central bank.

HONG KONG/LONDON — HSBC ousted Chief Executive Officer John Flint after just 18 months in that role, in a surprise move that the lender’s chairman said was necessary to accelerate progress of its strategic priorities.

SHANGHAI — China on Monday let the yuan tumble beyond the key 7-per-dollar level for the first time in more than a decade, in a sign Beijing might be willing to tolerate further currency weakness in the face of an escalating trade row with the United States.

TOKYO — Japan’s top currency diplomat on Monday warned investors against significantly pushing up the yen, signaling that Tokyo was ready to intervene in the currency market if excessive yen gains threatened to hurt the export-reliant economy.