Attempts to accelerate the shakeup of German banking haven’t had much success in the past year. First, talks to combine two state-owned regional lenders fell apart; then Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG tried but (for good reason) were unable to find a way to make a merger work. Now a third combination is on the table. This time too, ...

If you want a snapshot of how far the euro zone has come, look no further than Greece and Italy. Until recently, the two Mediterranean countries have been considered the sick men of Europe, as investors demanded hefty premiums to hold their sovereign bonds. These extra charges were all the more striking given the steep fall in the yields of ...

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s sales have withered in recent years for a variety of internal reasons, but it has also suffered because of punishing competition from Target Corp. Now the beleaguered home-goods chain will try to get some of that Target magic for itself. Bed Bath & Beyond announced its new CEO: Mark Tritton, chief merchandising officer at Target ...

How worried should we be about Starbucks’s recent announcement that it plans to begin testing a new type of store that only takes orders via mobile app — no cashiers? At first glance the image seems vaguely dystopian: person after person filing through, inevitably wearing AirPods, to pick up caffeine-and-sugar infusions they ordered by pressing a few buttons on their ...

Bloomberg American equity-index futures slipped on Wednesday while European shares struggled for traction as tensions over Hong Kong mounted and earnings season rolled on. Treasuries gained and the dollar was steady. Contracts on all three major US gauges stayed lower even after Bank of America reported upbeat earnings. The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed after paring a decline as ...

Bloomberg India’s benchmark stock index posted its longest winning streak in more than three months after Wipro Ltd boosted investor optimism with earnings that beat all estimates. In a volatile trading session that saw it pare gains multiple times, the S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 0.2% to 38,598.99 in Mumbai. That marked a fourth day of gains and its longest ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s central bank warned that economic growth would be weaker than forecast after cutting its policy rate for the second time this year as a global downturn pummels exports and weighs on prices. The move comes amid a wave of rate cutting by central banks around the world to shore up growth and highlights the sense of urgency ...

Bloomberg Bank of America (BofA) Corp posted the biggest jump in investment-banking fees on Wall Street, helping profit overcome headwinds from lower interest rates. Third-quarter debt underwriting fees unexpectedly surged 19% and the firm’s fixed-income traders eked out a slight increase, pushing profit above analysts’ estimates. Its gains in advisory fees also surpassed rivals in the best quarter for the ...

Bloomberg Citigroup is calling for greater consistency in implementing regulations for the banking industry Africa and warned frequent changes will harm the sector. The bank’s business was one of 12 lenders Nigeria’s central bank penalised last month for failing to meet credit-provision targets. Citigroup was handed a 100.7 billion naira ($279 million) penalty out of a combined sanction of 500 ...

Bloomberg Ant Financial Services Group is seeking a syndicated loan of up to $3.5 billion at a lower rate, joining other Chinese technology giants in their bid to slash debt costs. The company is in talks with lenders for a $2.5 billion financing that comes with a $1 billion greenshoe option, according to people familiar with the matter. The price ...