Frankfurt / AFP Europe’s financial sector is showing further signs of mending and banks are increasingly competing for custom by easing credit standards, a key European Central Bank survey showed on Tuesday. The ECB said its quarterly bank lending survey (BLS) showed banks are easing credit standards for loans to companies. However, this is an encouraging sign, since the ...

  Bloomberg Ana Botin, the chairman of Banco Santander SA, is doubling the lender’s bet on fintech. Spain’s biggest bank said that it was boosting its investment in Santander InnoVentures, its London-based financial technology fund, to $200 million from $100 million. The fund takes minority stakes in promising startups, aiming to incorporate innovative technology in its banking operations. “A deeper ...

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to purchase a new London headquarters in a move that will enable the US bank to increase its presence in the UK capital. The building, known as 33 Central, is due to be completed in the third quarter of 2017, according to a statement on Monday from the developer, HB Reavis Group. The ...

  Bloomberg China’s home-price gains tapered off last month, as second-tier cities joined some of the nation’s largest hubs in imposing housing curbs to cool surging prices. New-home prices excluding government-subsidised housing climbed in 55 cities in June, down from 60 in May, among the 70 tracked, the National Bureau of Statistics said this week. Prices dropped in 10 cities, ...

  Bloomberg London’s seven-year housing boom may be about to end after the UK voted to leave the European Union. “While in recent stress tests, the major UK banks were assessed with declines of around 30 percent in commercial real estate prices, we fear that London residential could experience an even more severe downturn,” Societe Generale analysts including Marc Mozzi ...

  Bloomberg China largest residential real estate developer Vanke Co.’s shares have fallen below the level that JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts said might trigger a liquidity squeeze at funds managed by its largest shareholder, Baoneng Group. The Shenzhen-traded Vanke shares have tumbled almost 30 percent after they resumed trading on July 4 following a six-month halt. The shares fell ...

  Bloomberg It used to be that you had to traverse the Indian or South Pacific ocean to sleep in a thatched-roof, overwater bungalow — the epitome of luxury accommodations. With ladders that descend straight into turquoise waters, four-poster beds with gauzy mosquito netting, and private plunge pools, they’re the stuff of honeymoon dreams. Now you can get the floating ...

Bloomberg Confidence among US homebuilders declined in July from a five-month high, showing the construction industry remains in a slow, if unspectacular, recovery as the busiest part of the selling season comes to a close, according to data this week from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) / Wells Fargo. Key points Builder sentiment gauge declined to 59 from ...

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. slumped the most in three weeks after Asia’s biggest international carrier said first-half performance was “below expectations” and yields were under “intense pressure.” Shares snapped six days of gains after the Hong Kong-based airline said in a statement to the stock exchange this week that combined passenger load factor for Cathay Pacific and unit ...

  Bloomberg South African Airways (SAA) completed a flight using jet fuel made from a tobacco plant, its first contribution to the global push to power more air journeys from renewable resources. SAA used 6,300 liters of bio jet fuel for the one-way trip to Cape Town from Johannesburg, the state-owned carrier said. The initiative was carried out in conjunction ...