Bloomberg There’s nothing like $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to help make friends at a gathering of conservative political donors. Donald Trump is gaining ground with members to the Koch political network, after the president’s name was hardly mentioned when the deep-pocketed individuals last assembled seven months ago. At that time, the group was skeptical of the former New York ...

Bloomberg The rationale for merging some of Europe’s biggest lenders is compelling. That’s the view of many financial executives who met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. A decade after the financial crisis, some of the region’s biggest lenders are facing declining revenue as interest rates linger near record lows, while legal bills and capital demands ...

DUBAI / Reuters Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank plans to add more than 100 branches in Pakistan this year through its subsidiary Faysal Bank, to capitalise on the country’s low penetration rate of banking services, a senior executive said. Ithmaar Bank owns 66 percent of Faysal Bank, whose contribution to the Islamic retail bank’s overall balance sheet would likely grow to more ...