Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo disqualified one of the country’s most popular opposition politicians from running for president. The decision removes a second key opponent from the race against President Joseph Kabila’s anointed successor and raises the risk of angry protests by opposition supporters. It casts doubt on the credibility of the December 23 election in the cobalt-rich nation, ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s (ECB) search for a new watchdog to oversee one of the world’s biggest banking systems has its first candidate: the Irish central bank’s deputy governor, Sharon Donnery. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed Donnery’s application, the day submissions to lead the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) were due to close, saying that she’s an “exceptional candidate.” ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA, Italy’s biggest bank, climbed in Milan trading after a report that it had hired an adviser for a possible merger with France’s Societe Generale SA, a deal rumored already two years ago. Talks between the lenders to study integration and acquisition possibilities have been continuing, Italian financial newspaper MF reported, without citing anyone. UniCredit appointed Daniel Bouton, ...