Bloomberg UK retailers built up stocks by the most since the 1980s in anticipation of leaving the European Union at the end of the month, a report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed. The proximity to Christmas and ongoing Brexit uncertainty are the main drivers, the CBI said. Retail sales volumes and orders fell in the year to …

Bloomberg Global markets are “awash” in crude thanks to the surge in US oil output, and the boom looks set to continue, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a Bloomberg TV interview. US shale production has turned the world “on its head,” and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is “off a bit” in a report last week saying that the …

Bloomberg Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which completed a three-way merger in May, plans to exit its operations in Qatar and Kuwait to focus on its home market. The lender initiated the process of closing operations in both the countries and have informed the authorities, according to a statement. The move comes after the bank sold the majority of its …

Bloomberg India’s central bank hasn’t sold any gold recently nor is trading in the metal, the monetary authority said in a tweet on Sunday. Reports have appeared in certain sections of media that RBI has been selling or trading in gold of late. It is clarified that RBI has not sold any gold or trading in it. The Economic Times …

Bloomberg Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Ltd, the world’s largest lender by assets, posted a 5.8% increase in third-quarter profit amid a deepening economic slowdown. Net income for the three months through September rose to 83.8 billion yuan ($11.8 billion) from 79.2 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based lender said in a filing. ICBC led the nation’s …

Bloomberg The Competition Authority of Kenya gave Nigeria’s biggest lender the go-ahead to acquire 93.57% of Transnational Bank Ltd, as consolidation in the East African nation’s banking industry gathers pace. Access Bank Plc’s purchase follows the merger of NIC Group Plc and Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd, and KCB Group Ltd’s acquisition of National Bank of Kenya Ltd earlier this …

Bloomberg UBS Group AG has cut about two dozen jobs in Europe over the last two weeks as Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti restructures the investment bank after a poor performance this year. At least 10 of the cuts came at the equities trading division, people familiar with the matter said. Five positions were eliminated in Zurich, including three managing …

Bloomberg State Bank of India (SBI) Ltd posted a bigger-than-expected profit in the fiscal second quarter as asset quality improved. Shares jumped. Net income more than tripled to 30.1 billion rupees ($424 million) for the three months ended on September 30 from 9.4 billion rupees a year earlier, India’s largest lender said. Analysts had expected a profit of 22.9 billion …

Bloomberg A senior Chinese foreign-exchange regulatory official called for “special attention” to be paid to blockchain as the nation looks to gain advantages from digital finance. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange is looking to use blockchain and artificial intelligence in cross-border trade finance and macro-prudential regulation, Lu Lei, deputy director of the regulator, said at the Bund Summit in …

Bloomberg Weeks after Armand Wahyudi Hartono became the vice president director of Indonesia’s largest non-state bank, he noticed how staff were leaving half-empty glasses of water after work. The next morning, he restricted the amount of drinking water available at PT Bank Central Asia’s (BCA) headquarters. Such stringent cost control is just an example of how the lender has managed …