State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar wants to assure investors he’s in complete control of the ‘demon’ of soured loans. Not so fast, Aladdin. The bank’s first quarterly profit in 12 months is no doubt an encouraging sign, though net income of $129 million on a $284 billion loan book is hardly worth celebrating. Besides, it’s premature for ...

Very little went wrong for DBS Group Holdings Ltd. last quarter. Singapore’s biggest bank, the last to report earnings, posted a 76 percent jump in net income. Net interest margins widened 13 basis points and credit costs were 71 percent lower than a year earlier. Investment banking wobbled, but trading income surged to compensate. The joys of being a bank ...

“To get rich, first build a road” is one of those Chinese proverbs that tends to impress foreigners — evoking, as it does, a combination of farsightedness and concern for practicalities. As China is discovering with its globe-spanning Belt and Road project, though, the world doesn’t always play along. The initiative has run into trouble, and its success now depends ...