Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed extending and tightening Germany’s lockdown after Covid-19 contagion rates nearly doubled in a month, highlighting Europe’s struggles to contain the pandemic. The plan would prolong current curbs through April 18 and calls for new measures in hard-hit areas, according to a chancellery draft seen by Bloomberg. Merkel and regional leaders will discuss the proposals as ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) spent 110 billion francs ($118 billion) on interventions in 2020, evidence of heightened market activism that risks fueling more tension with the US. The tally is the highest since 2012 and indicates officials purchased currency worth 9 billion francs in the fourth quarter, when the US Treasury branded Switzerland a currency manipulator. Such eye-watering ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc reopens its main Hong Kong office on Monday, after being closed last week in the wake of three people testing positive for coronavirus (Covid-19). “Precautionary measures — such as wearing masks, pre-entry temperature screening, hand sanitisers, spaced queuing and portable acrylic screens at open banking counters — will continue to be in place,” according to a ...