Italy’s populist government has its eye on the country’s financial regulators. Rome has suffered a long series of banking scandals, so it’s only fair to ask for more accountability. But the way the ruling League and Five Star Movement are proceeding should worry anybody who cares about the independence of these institutions. The coalition has nominated Paolo Savona, European Affairs ...

Wade past the shadows of the Carlos Ghosn debacle and a picture emerges of a car business that was already in deep trouble. Nissan Motor Co.’s operating profit dropped around 14 percent in the first nine months, margins shrank, and net income tanked 45 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese carmaker said. The company also booked a 9.2 billion-yen ...

President Trump has nominated David Malpass, a senior Treasury official and former Wall Street economist, to succeed Jim Yong Kim as next leader of the World Bank. Rather than rubber-stamp the US nomination, as the bank’s other member governments are generally inclined to do, they should ask whether Malpass is the best available candidate — and, even more important, start ...