DUBAI / WAM The smart city concept has the potential to boost the economic development of global cities by over five percent and deliver at least $20 trillion in additional economic benefits by 2026, reveals a a report titled “Role of Smart Cities for Economic Development.” The numbers were released as discussions on the economic impact of smart cities have …

Bloomberg The market power of corporations is rising across rich economies and could eat into economic growth if the trend intensifies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. Corporate market power increased moderately between 2000 and 2015, with price markups increasing by 8 percent, the IMF said in an analysis accompanying its latest World Economic Outlook. The increase was concentrated outside …

Bloomberg Oil rose near $70 a barrel in London, a level last breached in November, as global crude supplies tightened while hopes for an end to the US-China trade impasse lifted financial markets. Brent crude’s rapid recovery this year — with the biggest quarterly gain in almost a decade — is a victory for the production cuts made by Opec …

Bloomberg US stocks advanced and bonds retreated globally as upbeat economic reports from China to Europe and renewed hopes for a Sino-US trade deal attracted investors to riskier assets. The euro and pound strengthened. The S&P 500 climbed for a fifth day, equaling the longest winning streak in two months. The Dow briefly erased gains after a gauge of US …

Bloomberg Italian stocks extended their 2019 rally on Wednesday, with the FTSE MIB benchmark set to enter a bull market, boosted by positive economic data. The benchmark gauge rose 1 percent and has gained 20 percent since reaching a two-year low on December 27 in a broad-based advance led by stocks including Ferrari NV and UniCredit SpA. March’s composite PMI …

Bloomberg Banco Santander SA pledged to cut 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of annual costs and ramp up investment in digital and its prized Brazilian business as the Spanish lender seeks to revive its moribund share price. The Spanish banking group plans to achieve the incremental cost cuts over three to four years while investing 20 billion euros in digitalisation, …

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is nearing an agreement with US authorities over allegations that the bank provided dollar-clearing services to Iranian clients in violation of US sanctions, people with the knowledge of the matter said. The deal would cost the Italian lender about $900 million but spare it from criminal prosecution, the people said. A settlement of that size would be …

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s lenders, which include units of Standard Bank Group Ltd and Ecobank Ltd, appealed to the central bank to raise interest rates that have been capped at 12 percent for the past two years, saying this would increase lending in the collapsing economy. They also proposed that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduce an overnight rate to facilitate lending …

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp plans to hire about 10 people to boost its in-house investment capabilities, primarily from Goldman Sachs Group Inc, according to people familiar with the situation. The additions will come from banking, private equity, consulting and, in at least one case, the medical profession, said the people, asking not to be named because the matter is private. …

Bloomberg Germany’s beleaguered investment bankers could face even more competition when rivals move staff to the country after Brexit. While relocations from the UK will initially have little effect, that may change if banks then use their newly established presence in Germany to expand in the local market for investment banking services, Joachim Wuermeling, the head of banking supervision at …