AP The president of Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank is resigning less than a week after the federal government passed measures to aid the US territory’s dire finances. Melba Acosta said she’ll step down July 31 to focus on her professional career. She directs a bank that issues loans to government agencies and is responsible for overseeing Puerto Rico’s …

  AFP Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said that public intervention in the country’s banks was not to be ruled out amid growing fears the sector’s 360 billion euros (US$398 billion) in bad debt would trigger a potentially contagious banking crisis. “Given the risk that, in a context of high uncertainty, limited problems could undermine the trust in the …

  Bloomberg The 16.9 million people receiving welfare payments from South Africa’s government into bank accounts should have the right to choose between financial services companies, according to the country’s central bank. A contract awarded by the South African Social Security Agency to Johannesburg-based Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc to pay grants electronically in 2012 has this year been dogged …