Bloomberg South Africa’s banking index fell to the lowest in six months after S&P Global Ratings cut the sovereign’s foreign-currency debt rating to junk, increasing the likelihood that lenders will have to battle declining returns and rising bad debts in the year ahead. South Africa’s six-member banks index, which includes Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Barclays Africa Group Ltd., …

  Bloomberg The latest probe into Credit Suisse Group AG is a blow, not just for the firm but also for the Swiss attorney general, who didn’t know some of the bank’s offices were going to be raided. It’s too early to tell whether the Credit Suisse accounts being investigated are older, or include some that are more recent as …

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank estimates Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA and Veneto Banca SpA need about 6.4 billion euros ($6.8 billion) and considers the lenders solvent, a condition for them to receive a bailout, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives of the ECB, the European Commission and the Italian Treasury reviewed the banks’ request for a …