Bloomberg The European Union is considering easing bank-failure rules introduced to end the era of expensive taxpayer-funded bailouts. A discussion paper prepared by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, envisions setting EU loss-absorbency requirements for its biggest banks, led by HSBC Holdings Plc and Deutsche Bank AG, in line with those issued in November by the Financial Stability Board ...

Bloomberg Former HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan is among 250 business leaders backing the push for the U.K. to leave the European Union. Geoghegan was CEO of HSBC from 2006 until 2010 and his support for “Brexit” stands in contrast to the bank’s current management, which warns it will send 1,000 staff to Paris from London if ...

Paris / Reuters France posted its smallest public deficit last year since the global financial crisis of 2008, data showed , making this year’s government target “perfectly credible” according to the finance minister. The INSEE statistics agency said the public deficit, which includes the combined shortfalls of the central state, local government and welfare system budgets, fell to 3.5 percent ...