BLOOMBERG Nigeria’s central bank increased the supply of banknotes to lenders to end shortages that have hampered individual and business transactions and crippled the cash-based economy since January. Most lenders including United Bank for Africa Plc Zenith Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc called in staff to help customers access cash in banks or via automated teller machines (ATMs). The …

BLOOMBERG HSBC Holdings Plc’s acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm made “great sense” from a business perspective and had nothing to do with pressure from regulators, according to Antony Shaw, chief executive officer of the bank’s Australia unit. “It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often,” Shaw said via video from Hong Kong at an AFR banking summit. …

BLOOMBERG French banks including Societe Generale SA and BNP Paribas SA face collective fines of more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) as part of a probe into tax fraud and money laundering related to dividend payments. HSBC Holdings Plc, Natixis SA and BNP’s Exane unit are also part of the investigation, according to the prosecutors’ office in Paris, which …