Bloomberg South Korea became the first major Asian economy to raise interest rates, with more hikes in the pipeline as its central bank indicated that financial risks pose a bigger threat to the economy than the latest virus outbreak. Governor Lee Ju-yeol said the quarter-percentage-point hike to 0.75% still left rates in an accommodative position that supports the economy. He …

Bloomberg Barclays Plc acquired a $3.8 billion portfolio of credit cards from retailer Gap Inc., giving it a new route to American consumers. The British bank will issue co-branded and private label credit cards in the US to Gap customers from the second quarter next year, Barclays said in a statement. While Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has made the …

Bloomberg BlackRock Inc is gearing up for the first test of Chinese investor appetite for its own mutual fund products, more than 15 years after entering the world’s most promising wealth market. The company’s new China unit is launching its debut product on August 30, just two months after winning regulatory approval to become the nation’s first wholly foreign-owned mutual …