Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) is about to try to put a number on normality. After months of research, the central bank will provide an assessment of the Goldilocks interest rate for the first time when it announces its policy decision on August 2. Known as r* (r-star), it’s the rate that keeps the economy neither too hot nor …

Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd. has allocated $751 million to fund energy projects in South Africa as the continent’s largest lender by assets grows more confident in its home market and invests in riskier ventures. “We are exceedingly optimistic about the future of this country, more so now than in December,” Lungisa Fuzile, the Johannesburg-based lender’s South African head, said. …

Bloomberg Credit Suisse is shuttering five more exchange-traded notes next month, eliminating a pair of structured products that let investors bet on swings in stock markets and a trio of notes tied to oil prices. The investment bank, which infamously closed the $1.9 billion VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN, ticker XIV, in February amid a maelstrom in which the …