Bloomberg Police in Slovakia, a Nato and European Union (EU) member bordering Ukraine, detained four people suspected of spying for Moscow and expelled three Russian diplomats in response. Russia paid the suspects “tens of thousands of euros” for sensitive or classified information, Special Prosecutor Daniel Lipsic told journalists, a day after the detentions and the diplomats’ expulsion. Two people were ...

  Bloomberg European banks operating in Russia are preparing to separate those business from their main computer systems to reduce their vulnerability to cyber-attacks following the invasion of Ukraine. Commerzbank AG is preparing to cut off its Russian unit from its system as one potential scenario and already has the ability to rapidly sever the connection through what’s internally known ...

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co raised Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charlie Scharf’s pay 20% for 2021, a year in which profit recovered and shares advanced more than most of the bank’s rivals. The board paid Scharf $24.5 million for his second full year atop Wells Fargo, up from $20.3 million for 2020, according to a filing. The package consisted ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc is setting up a new hub in Malaga, Spain, where it plans to hire 30 analysts, as part of the banking giant’s efforts to retain staff. The lender hopes the Andalusian city, with more than 8 miles (13 kilometers) of coast line along the Mediterranean Sea, will offer employees a better work-life balance and help curb ...

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc has agreed to sell its 15 Greek bank branches to Pancreta Bank SA, the latest move by the lender to cut back some of its operations outside of Asia. Subsidiary HSBC Continental Europe has reached an “in-principle agreement to sell its branch operations in Greece,” according to a statement. No financial terms were disclosed and ...

  Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd is in talks with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to exit the two banks’ UK-based joint venture and focus on growing operations on its home continent. ICBC Standard Bank was created in 2015, when the company sold a 60% stake of its London-based Global Markets business to Chinese giant. The combination sought ...

  Bloomberg Chinese technology giants Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have lost more than $1 trillion in combined market value since the selloff in Hong Kong stocks began 13 months ago. The two tech powerhouses account for more than half of the $2.1 trillion in total losses for Hang Seng Tech Index members since the gauge’s February ...

  Bloomberg European stocks retreated as investors braced for tomorrow’s expected Federal Reserve policy tightening and weighed the impact of soaring inflation on economic growth. The Stoxx Europe 600 slumped 2% at 8:56 am in London. Miners fall the most, with commodities retreating as coronavirus outbreaks in China threaten to disrupt the country’s economic recovery. Consumer products and services as ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc shares fall, closing below their 200-day moving average for the first time since June, after the iPhone maker’s supplier Foxconn halted operations at its Shenzhen sites following a government-imposed lockdown. Shares dropped as much as 2.7%, ending at their lowest since November. The decline erased more than $67 billion off Apple’s market capitalisation, putting it under ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Upon the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), the ERC has intensified its Ramadan programmes for 2022, which will benefit over 2.1 million people in the UAE and the rest of the world. They comprise Ramadan Iftar, ...