Singapore / AFP Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union will not be as damaging to developing Asia’s economies as feared, the World Bank said Wednesday as it increased its growth forecast for the region this year. Countries in the Mekong region led by Myanmar are projected to expand at the fastest pace in the next three years, …

Tokyo / AFP Sompo Holdings said on Wednesday it would buy Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings for $6.3 billion, becoming the latest Japanese firm to make an overseas acquisition as it faces slowing growth at home. The all-cash deal for New York-listed Endurance, which has a strong presence in the lucrative US market, is expected to be completed by the end …

  Geneva / AFP Switzerland said on Wednesday it had widened its probe into Malaysia’s scandal-tainted state investment fund, 1MDB, with transactions worth $800 million under scrutiny and evidence pointing to fraud through “a Ponzi scheme”. The Swiss attorney general opened an investigation into the troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in August 2015 following allegations that some of the money …