Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is in advanced discussions for a banking license in Saudi Arabia, returning after a more than 10-year absence from the kingdom, as the bank looks for ways to capitalize on financial reforms, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based bank has started sounding out potential staff in expectation that the license application will …

  Reuters Annual growth in Saudi Arabian bank lending slowed in January to its lowest level in nearly seven years, official data showed, a sign of weak corporate demand but also improving liquidity in the economy. Bank loans to the private sector rose just 1.8 percent from a year earlier, compared to 2.4 percent in December, the central bank said. …

  Bloomberg India’s weaker economic growth will lead to more soured loans, even after an audit of lenders’ books pushed stressed assets in the South Asian nation to the highest among major economies, according to the head of the country’s largest bank. “There could be a few more accounts that could start showing stress mainly because the kind of growth …