Bloomberg German inflation slowed, underscoring the challenge the European Central Bank will face in 2018 as it gradually removes its stimulus program. Consumer prices rose an annual 1.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office said. Inflation has remained tepid in Germany even as record-low unemployment bolsters private consumption and a recovery in global trade fuels exports and investment. The Bundesbank this …

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is withdrawing from an industry pact designed to allow financial advisers to change companies without being sued by for- mer employers, further unrav- eling the accord after Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG said they would pull out. “Similar to others in the industry, Citi has decided to exit the protocol,” company spokesman Drew Benson said in …

Bloomberg Nordea Bank AB’s Swedish mortgage loan book continued to shrink in November after the biggest Nordic lender saw the first decline in at least 15 years the previous month. The mortgage book fell to 443.5 billion kronor ($54 billion) in November from 444.7 billion kronor in October, according to Statistics Sweden data. The decline acceler- ated to more than …