Opinion

  A high-profile speech on Ukraine is probably the last thing Democratic pollsters would have wanted from President Joe Biden. Good news on the pandemic would be welcome. If there had to be tough talk about a nasty foe, they would surely have hoped it would be about inflation, not Russian President Vladimir Putin. Or they may have wanted the ...

Intelligence work happens in the shadows, but the Ukraine crisis is dragging it into the sunlight. One of the most remarkable aspects of this showdown has been President Joe Biden’s willingness to publicly release sensitive information on Russia’s plans before they can be put into action. These disclosures are part of a strategy to stay a step ahead of Russian ...

Smart phones have made life so much more convenient for everyone — well, apart from compliance sheriffs and record keepers at global banks. HSBC Holdings Plc alerted investors that it was being investigated in the US for its bankers’ use of WhatsApp and other personal messaging services for business purposes. It put the news in a single line in its ...

  The reputation of Swiss banking has taken a battering for years and the hits keep coming. The latest slew of stories about Credit Suisse Group AG’s links with unsavory clients highlights again the very long tail on what the bank says are entirely historic issues. Cleaning up Swiss banks’ client base and the industry’s standing in the world is ...

  Only a few days ago, European officials were feeling pretty good about their united position regarding Russia’s troops along the Ukraine border. But the quiet hope was that Moscow wouldn’t push them to the brink of actually having to deliver on their threat of sanctions. This week, as the dust settled on China’s Winter Olympics, Russia did exactly that, ...

Inflation is getting a free pass in India. Policy makers seem to believe that by not raising interest rates and letting prices bubble up for a bit they will encourage investment and employment and boost post-pandemic growth. In reality, however, the connection between output, jobs and prices may be more complex. Ignoring inflation may just allow it to bite. India’s ...

We’re all finally going on a summer holiday. That’s the hope anyway. Evidence of a recovery in leisure travel is mounting, but we’ve been here several times before. There is still a risk that our wanderlust is curbed by the emergence of a new variant, an escalation of tensions in Ukraine or a surge in living costs. For now, though, ...

  For years, hedge fund managers were the undisputed masters of the universe. They influenced the fortunes not just of companies and markets but countries too. No more. They have been usurped at the top of the financial food chain by a new breed of market savant. Nowhere is the power shift more apparent than in South Korea. When Korea ...

  It’s the $96 billion — and counting — question for investors in China. After last year’s bruising crackdown on Big Tech, Wall Street has been speculating on when Beijing will relent. The latest selloff in benchmark tech stocks is a wake-up call that the worst is far from over. The government said that China’s online food-delivery platforms should reduce ...

Hong Kong’s rapid isolation from the rest of the world has business executives, investors and expatriates asking whether Singapore will overtake the territory as Asia’s main financial center. If that’s the ambition, there’s a lot of ground to cover. A more realistic outcome is that the two locations work as complements, rather than competitors for global talent. The situation in ...