Bloomberg The global semiconductor shortage will slash earnings at General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. by about one-third this year as supply constraints hamper production and profits, Moody’s Investor Service estimates. The chip shortage will materially erode margins and could lower expected earnings before interest and taxes by as much as $2 billion for GM and $2.5 billion for …

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is working on a magnetically attached battery pack for the newest iPhones, an accessory that would wirelessly charge the handset and provide the company with another potentially lucrative add-on product. Apple has been developing the attachment for at least a year and it has been scheduled to launch in the months following the release of the iPhone …

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc said it expects to eventually shrink its property footprint by 40%, the latest sign of how the pandemic is changing the role of the office. Europe’s largest bank would reduce its “real estate footprint” over the long term, Group Chief Operating Officer John Hinshaw said in a call with analysts after bank reported fourth-quarter results. Last …

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG are relocating a number of bankers to mainland China from Hong Kong to better compete for deals after the world’s fastest growing major economy relaxed curbs on foreign financial firms. Credit Suisse moved three directors, including Vivian Feng, Richard Kot and Felix Meng, as well as four more junior bankers, to …

Bloomberg Lloyds Banking group Plc beat forecasts with a pretax profit of 792 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in its fourth quarter, helped by a buoyant UK housing market and government support for its borrowers. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender announced a dividend 0.57 pence per share, marking the end of a year without payouts to protect lending during the pandemic. In …

Bloomberg Poland’s state-controlled PKO Bank Polski SA wants to end the legacy of its Swiss-franc mortgage lending this year, piling pressure on the rest of the industry to follow suit. The country’s biggest bank will seek shareholders’ approval to offer conversion of foreign currency loans to all borrowers once the pilot program it’s running with selected clients is over, Chief …

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is concerned that cryptocurrencies may impact financial stability in Asia’s third-largest economy, a view that could shape looming regulations on the asset that is breaking price-records around the world. The monetary authority has conveyed these “major concerns” to government, Governor Shaktikanta Das said in an interview to CNBC TV-18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will probably signal its readiness to lower its negative interest rate by pledging to mitigate any harmful impact such a move would have at a review next month, according to a former BOJ official in charge of monetary policy. “The BOJ likely wants to restore a rate cut as a viable option,” Kazuo Momma …

Bloomberg Hong Kong unveiled its first stamp-duty increase on stock trades since 1993, sparking a broad selloff in the $7.6 trillion market and sending shares of the city’s exchange to their biggest plunge in more than five years. The planned trading-tax increase to 0.13% from 0.10% was part of a raft of new measures announced in Hong Kong’s budget that …

Bloomberg The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) shut trading in its cash and derivative segments earlier on Wednesday, citing “issues” with telecom links of its two service providers, which it said impacted the system and stopped prices from updating. “We are working on restoring the systems as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for NSE, the world’s biggest derivatives …