London / Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) defied European Union regulators by retaining a bonus-cap exemption for smaller UK financial firms, as the bloc’s policy makers reassess remuneration rules that have been repeatedly blasted by British regulators. The BOE and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that they will comply with all EU remuneration rules apart from applying the ...

BEIJING / Bloomberg China’s political leaders identified aerospace as one of 10 key industries in the country’s quest to become an advanced industrialised nation. Ahead of this weekend’s annual legislative session, Western planemakers — their future competitors — are helping them toward that goal. Airbus Group SE will break ground on Wednesday on a finishing center for its wide-body A330 ...

Frankfurt / AFP German retail sales, a closely watched measure of household confidence, rose in January, suggesting consumer sentiment in Europe’s top economy remains robust, official data showed on Monday. Retailers’ sales expanded by 0.7 percent in January compared with December, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. The previous month, retail sales had risen by 0.6 percent. ...