Bloomberg UBS Group AG is in discussions to acquire a majority stake in its Chinese securities joint venture, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said, as global banks rush to take advantage of Beijing’s pledge to further open its financial markets. UBS has started talks with its local partners on taking a 51 percent stake in the venture, Ermotti said in ...

Bloomberg A former Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc trader was fined 250,000 pounds ($338,000) and banned from working in the industry by the UK markets regulator for manipulating Libor, five years after the bank was penalised for its role in the scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority issued the penalty against Neil Danziger on Monday, saying the ex-trader “routinely” made ...

Bloomberg After a quiet start to January, this week could see bigger bets come back into play on the pound. With the UK Parliament returning from recess and a slew of data, investors will be looking to put on fresh sterling positions, according to Neil Jones, head of currency sales at Mizuho Bank Ltd. Despite lingering Brexit uncertainty and a ...

Bloomberg Romania unexpectedly raised borrowing costs for the first time in almost a decade as inflation bounces back and its economy expands at one of the continent’s quickest paces. The central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate to 2 percent from a record-low 1.75 percent on Monday, according to an emailed statement. The move was predicted by five of 15 ...

Bloomberg Milton Friedman put a nail in the coffin of the original version of the Phillips Curve 50 years ago when he correctly foresaw that the US could simultaneously suffer from high unemployment and lofty inflation. A growing number of economists are now trying to lay to rest Phillips Curve 2.0, still in use at the Federal Reserve and other ...

Bloomberg Travellers from around the world faced more chaos after flooding at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport caused fresh flight delays and diversions amid operations already strained by a snowstorm and freezing temperatures. The meltdown, two days after the year’s first major snowstorm, left passengers to deal with long lines to rebook cancelled flights and to search through ...

Bloomberg Chinese airline shares surged after the government gave airlines more freedom to set fares for domestic flights, easing state control over prices. China removed the caps on full fares and airlines can decide on prices for routes as long as they are served by at least five carriers, according to a joint statement by the Civil Aviation Administration of ...

Bloomberg Mothercare Plc reported a sharp drop in UK sales over the holiday season, underlining the depths of the country’s retail crisis as store owners wrestle with higher costs and a shift to online shopping. Like-for-like sales in the UK declined 7.2 percent in the past 12 weeks, the childrenswear retailer said on Monday. Gross margins are also set to ...

Bloomberg The company with the biggest grip on Thailand’s brick-and-mortar retail market is expecting a partnership with China’s JD.com Inc. to help it do the same in online sales. Central Group, which controls Thailand’s biggest operator of shopping malls and department stores, expects online sales to account for as much as 15 percent of its revenue in five years, from ...

DUBAI / WAM Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, received the outgoing Azerbaijani Consul-General, Parvez Ismayilzada, along with Alnoor Aleef, Azerbaijan’s Commercial Representative. Musabih thanked Zada for his dedicated service in Dubai. The meeting agenda included discussions on cooperation, trade growth opportunities and the exchange of customs experiences between Dubai and Azerbaijan. Musabih highlighted that trade with Azerbaijan has ...