Bloomberg Barclays Plc agreed to sublet office space in London’s Canary Wharf financial district to the UK government, saving the cost-pressured British bank about 35 million pounds ($45 million) a year. The Cabinet Office will lease about 540,000 square feet of space in 10 South Colonnade, according to a statement on Barclays’s website Tuesday. IT and human resources staff …

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc plans to step up hiring in China for its retail and wealth business next year as the U.K. lender persists with its expansion there despite the country’s economic slowdown and measures to stem capital outflows. The bank increased the number of retail-bank employees in China’s Pearl River Delta by 57 percent in the 12 months …

  Sydney / AFP Australia’s central bank held interest rates at a record low of 1.50 percent on Tuesday despite a recent run of soft economic data but weak inflation figures kept the door open for future cuts. The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut rates by 300 basis points since November 2011 to support growth in non-resources industries as …