Bloomberg The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in the first such emergency move since the 2008 financial crisis, amid mounting concern that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to stall the record US economic expansion. The rate cut, which came between the central bank’s regularly scheduled meetings, was announced hours after Group of Seven finance chiefs held …

Bloomberg European Union (EU) officials are weighing a new crackdown on bank bailouts after national governments exploited loopholes in rules passed in the wake of the financial crisis. One focus of the discussions is the so-called “precautionary recapitalisation” rule that Italy used to inject 5.4 billion euros ($6 billion) into Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA in 2017, according …

Bloomberg Brazil’s central bank opened the door to more interest rate cuts as it signalled that the outbreak of the new coronavirus creates a bigger risk of an economic slowdown than of a spike in inflation. Policy makers said that they’re closely monitoring the effects of the epidemic on financial markets and on the wider economy. Its impact on Brazil’s …