Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. was eager to sign up as the ‘launch customer’ for Boeing Co.’s new 737 Max, soon to be the Greyhound of the skies as it replaces its older, less fuel-efficient cousins in fleets worldwide. But Southwest won’t be first to fly or even receive the new aircraft. That honour will go to a smaller low-cost …

  Bloomberg China’s central bank has ordered the nation’s lenders to strictly control new loans in the first quarter of the year, people familiar with the matter said, in another move to curb excess leverage in the financial system. The new guidance from the People’s Bank of China puts a particular emphasis on mortgage lending, the people said, as authorities …

  Bloomberg Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s fund-management arm expects rising inflows to boost assets to about 400 billion euros ($430 billion) as it expands its institutional client base, adds commercial offers and widens its distribution network. Eurizon Capital SGR SpA plans to expand its European staff by about 3 percent this year from the current 550 employees, partly by hiring teams …