DUBAI / Reuters HSBC is planning to add staff to its Saudi Arabian operations as the kingdom embarks on one of the biggest economic transformations attempted by any country, the bank’s regional chief Georges Elhedery told Reuters. Opportunities for investment banks have increased tremendously due to Vision 2030, the reform programme launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify …

Bloomberg A decade ago, the European Central Bank took its first step to becoming the euro area’s firefighter-in-chief. Its $112 billion emergency loan to banks on Aug. 9, 2007, was the initial response to a financial crisis that would force the Frankfurt-based institution to expand its balance sheet by trillions of euros. The ECB — together with international peers such …

Bloomberg Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported its eighth consecutive year of record profit, driven by growth in mortgage and business lending. Cash profit, which excludes one-time items, rose 4.6 percent to A$9.88 billion ($7.8 billion) in the 12 months ended June 30, from A$9.45 billion a year earlier, the Sydney-based lender said in a filing Wednesday. That compares with the …