Opinion

There was widespread excitement last week on the news that Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund has announced an intention to sell off its oil and gas holdings. This amounts to about 6 percent of the fund’s stockholdings, about $37 billion. Environmental activists, in particular, are delighted and expect this to trigger a broader sell-off in fossil fuels. Bill McKibben, ...

Two billionaire brothers, two bonds, two very different fates. This isn’t the plot of yet another sequel to Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel, though it could very well be. Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, sold 10-year dollar notes at just 130 basis points over US Treasuries on Monday. None of the existing debt of Indian nonfinancial issuers, including state-owned firms, ...

The Bitcoin rate spike, still alive despite bitter divisions in the community that supports the cryptocurrency, has laid bare the biggest problem with Bitcoin: Compared with fiat currencies, it’s painfully inconvenient and expensive to use as a means of payment. Bitcoin is set up to reward users for verifying transactions. Miners who package transactions into “blocks” receive two kinds of ...

China is opening its financial firms to more foreign ownership. The opportunity might seem tempting. But developed-world buyers should beware — it’s possible that it’s a trap. On November 10, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao announced changes in the rules limiting foreign ownership of Chinese financial companies. Foreign investors will now be allowed to take controlling interests in Chinese securities ...

Asia’s two rival financial centers are starting to look very different, and the gap is going to widen. The divergence of Singapore and Hong Kong is already evident in the quality of their transportation networks. MTR Corp.’s main rail lines in Hong Kong have been glitch-free for 5.6 million kilometers of passenger journeys on average this year, while Singapore’s subway ...

Later this month, the Bank of England will publish the results of new stress tests on the UK banking system. With Britain facing the risk of a disorderly exit from the European Union, the exercise is even more important than usual. A so-called cliff-edge Brexit is looking more likely. This could cause a sizable fall in gross domestic product, a ...

Republicans in Congress appear to have reached agreement on several crucial points about tax reform. First, it should add to the budget deficit. Second, it should contain countless gimmicks to disguise its true fiscal impact. And third, it should make an insanely complicated tax code even more so. As both houses moved closer last week to passing a comprehensive new ...

In India, you don’t really exist till you’re on the right WhatsApp groups. It’s on those private chat rooms that political campaigns are sharpest; where India’s sprawling extended families quarrel and make decisions; and, according to a recent Reuters investigation, where company quarterly results are predicted with surprising prescience. There’s no proof of insider trading yet, but officials from the ...

As the US Justice Department tries to block AT&T Inc.’s $109 billion purchase of media giant Time Warner Inc., Time Warner seems to be bearing the brunt of investors’ apprehension. But if regulators get their way, it’s AT&T they should be more worried about. The DOJ on Monday sued to block the wireless carrier’s takeover of Time Warner, saying it ...

About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said La Maison co-founder Manuel Valente. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.” Zimbabwe, where ...