BLOOMBERG Bank of East Asia (BEA) Ltd. shares dropped the most in two weeks in Hong Kong after Elliott Management started legal action alleging that the family-run lender acted improperly when issuing stock, which it says diluted minority investors and entrenched management control. The stock sank as much as 2.8 percent on Tuesday, the biggest intraday slide since July …

  Frankfurt / AFP Europe’s financial sector is showing further signs of mending and banks are increasingly competing for custom by easing credit standards, a key European Central Bank survey showed on Tuesday. The ECB said its quarterly bank lending survey (BLS) showed banks are easing credit standards for loans to companies. However, this is an encouraging sign, since the …

  Bloomberg Ana Botin, the chairman of Banco Santander SA, is doubling the lender’s bet on fintech. Spain’s biggest bank said that it was boosting its investment in Santander InnoVentures, its London-based financial technology fund, to $200 million from $100 million. The fund takes minority stakes in promising startups, aiming to incorporate innovative technology in its banking operations. “A deeper …