Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co plans to exit the business of settling government securities for most dealers by the end of 2017, including some transactions in a key corner of the US$1.6 trillion repurchase-agreement market. The departure from the business of facilitating settlement of such trades with 30 dealers and broker-dealers, a fraction of the bank’s hundreds of clients, …

  Bloomberg Azerbaijan closed down four more banks as the former Soviet Union’s third-largest crude exporter reels from the worst collapse in oil prices in a generation. The Financial Markets Supervisory Authority revoked the licenses of Dekabank, Kredobank, Parabank and Zaminbank to “reduce risks in the banking sector, ensure financial sustainability and increase trust,” Rufat Aslanli, head of the Baku-based …

  Swiss watchmakers sailed into a perfect storm this year. The industry, which generates more than $20 billion in exports, was buffeted from all sides — largely by circumstances largely beyond its control, but it’s increasingly clear that the decline will continue unless the industry changes the way it designs and markets its products. In January through June, the exports …