Bloomberg Developments in fintech could boost the UK’s sluggish productivity growth and the Bank of England has started a unit to monitor its developments, Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said. “We have set up a new Fintech Hub that will sit at the heart of the bank, to consider both how the bank understands and how it applies fintech, relevant to ...

Bloomberg The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate at a record low as it forecast inflation will remain inside the target band this year and in 2019. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held the overnight borrowing rate at 3 percent, it said in a statement in Manila, as predicted by 11 of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The rest ...

Bloomberg Two regional Federal Reserve bank presidents said they favour raising interest rates twice more this year following a hike this week, but were open to shifting their views if the outlook warranted a different policy approach. “My forecast had three moves for this year,’’ Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, who votes this year on monetary policy, told reporters after ...

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. started direct flights between Australia and London this weekend, passing a major milestone by reducing to 17 hours a trip that once took much longer. Flight QF9, which originated in Melbourne, landed at London Heathrow at 5:02 am on Sunday following a 14,498-kilometre trip from Perth, according to the UK airport operator’s website. The route marks ...

Bloomberg Meituan Dianping, the Chinese food reviews and delivery giant backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., has begun discussions on a Hong Kong initial public offering as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is weighing a valuation of at least $60 billion and is considering a listing in China as well if policy conditions ...

Bloomberg A Swedish private-equity firm co-founded by e-commerce pioneer Patrik Hedelin plans to more than double its capital with a new fund, according to people familiar with the process. eEquity aims to raise $183 million for its fourth fund, said the people, who declined to be identified as the information is not yet public. The Stockholm-based firm plans to close ...

Bloomberg A federal rule change about how airlines count the luggage they lose has pitted Southwest Airlines Co., the “bags fly free” carrier, against its two larger rivals, which tend to charge for the privilege of using the cargo hold. For decades, an airline’s lost-bag rate has been calculated by dividing the number of people it flies by the number ...

Bloomberg Chinese officials and state media said the country will defend itself in a trade war, warning that President Donald Trump’s tariff plans could backfire on the United States. Vice Premier Liu He told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a phone call that Washington’s investigation into alleged Chinese infringement of US intellectual property violates international rules and will harm ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is designing and producing its own device displays for the first time, using a secret manufacturing facility near its California headquarters to make small numbers of the screens for testing purposes, according to people familiar with the situation. The technology giant is making a significant investment in the development of next-generation MicroLED screens, say the people, who ...

Bloomberg If a green ride-sharing service were to flourish anywhere it would be in Munich, where you can rent no-emission cars on just about any city-centre street. And yet Linde AG is about to shut its two-year experiment with hydrogen. It’s another setback for fuel cell-powered cars against those that run on batteries. But the dirty little secret about clean ...