Bloomberg UBS Group AG posted better-than-expected third-quarter profit and set aside $1.5 billion for share buybacks next year as Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti prepares to hand over to Ralph Hamers. The Zurich-based wealth manager — the world’s largest — followed US banks in reporting earnings that benefited from increased market volatility and higher transaction-based income. It also unexpectedly saw ...

Bloomberg Bank of Thailand’s new governor said he’s looking into new measures to boost the economy as it faces a long and uneven road to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The policy response to the economic crisis should be long term, factoring in challenges likely to arise over the next two years, Governor Sethaput Suthiwart-Narueput told reporters at his first ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank (RBA) said further policy easing is likely to “gain more traction” as restrictions are lifted across the economy and agreed the governor would flag the shift to targeting actual over forecast inflation. “As the economy opens up, members considered it reasonable to expect that further monetary easing would gain more traction than had been the case ...

Bloomberg Environmental activists and economists claim there’s a way for the European Central Bank (ECB) to account for climate risks in its stimulus programs without the time-consuming preparatory work officials often say is needed. Just last week, ECB President Christine Lagarde said her institution must question whether “market neutrality” is appropriate in light of environmental risks. As far as researchers ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sent some workers at its London office home after two employees tested positive for Covid-19. The staffers work on the fourth and fifth floors of Plumtree Court, and their close contacts have been notified, according to a memo sent to staff last week. The two employees, who last were in the building, are in self-isolation, ...

Bloomberg Treasuries dropped alongside the dollar amid speculation that Washington lawmakers have made some progress on a stimulus package to be financed by trillion-dollar borrowing. The US 10-year yield broke above 0.8% to a four-month high and European bonds followed suit after Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed hope for political compromise on a stimulus bill this week. Outside of ...

Bloomberg European equities may not catch a break from being stuck in neutral as they head into a volatile end of the year, according to strategists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index will end the year at 371 points, leaving just 1% upside against Tuesday’s close, based on the average of 18 strategists polled in the study. They ...

TEL AVIV / WAM The United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and Israel, have announced the establishment of the Abraham Fund, which fulfills a commitment made in the Abraham Accords. Through this fund, the UAE, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and Israel will mobilise more than $3 billion in private sector-led investment and development initiatives to promote ...

DUBAI / WAM The UAE, represented by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), signed an agreement on air transport services in its initials with the Civil Aviation Authority in the Kingdom of Tonga at the GCAA’s headquarters in Dubai, with the aim of strengthening bilateral air relations between the two countries. Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the UAE General ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE has been ranked among the top three global commodity trading hubs, according to Dubai Multi Commodities Centre’s (DMCC) latest Future of Trade 2020 report. The Commodity Trade Index (CTI) assesses the role of 10 key trading hubs within global trade. The rankings are based on an analysis of 10 indicators across the three key ...