Bloomberg For foreign-exchange traders, a no-deal Brexit is bound to sink the pound no matter what protections are put in place to mitigate immediate financial risks. As lawmakers hit gridlock over Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed withdrawal accord, some have suggested Britain could leave the European Union without a divorce deal in hand and take steps to control and contain …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s purchase of almost 180 billion euros ($204 billion) of corporate bonds has upended the region’s credit markets, even if some fast-moving indicators are back to pre-intervention levels. Metrics such as spreads and the number of negative-yielding bonds have largely returned to levels seen in early 2016, before the ECB announced plans to start buying corporate …

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and 16 other lenders recently tested moving interest-rate swap positions from London to Frankfurt, according to people familiar with the matter, a signal that financial firms are pushing ahead with preparations for no-deal Brexit. The banks made dummy trades on December 3 in the first known dry run of a service that could move trillions of …

Bloomberg Germany’s federal government plans to increase gross borrowing by around 15 percent to 199 billion euros ($226 billion) next year to accommodate refinancing of the nation’s “bad bank” fund that was set up during the height of the financial crisis. The government will sell 156 billion euros in bonds and 43 billion euros in short-term bills, according to the …

Bloomberg Australia’s economy faces a trifecta of risks that could disrupt household spending and the central bank’s outlook for faster economic growth and falling unemployment. In minutes of its last policy meeting for the year, the Reserve Bank (RBA) struck a slightly dovish tone. It noted a “generalised tightening of credit availability” in the economy even as it stuck to …

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) cut its inflation forecast and showed no inclination of moving off its crisis-era settings, citing franc’s strength and mounting global risks. Investor anxiety about Italian politics, trade tensions and Brexit has put upward pressure on the franc in recent months, dragging it further away from its April low against the euro. Highlighting those risks, …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s shadow looms large over most US retailers this holiday season, but the online giant could prove to be bright spot for Best Buy Co. Two of the top five best-selling televisions on Amazon are models sold on Best Buy’s new storefront on Amazon, which the companies unveiled over the summer. The TVs come equipped with Amazon’s Fire …

Bloomberg Troubled budget carrier FastJet Plc grounded its Tanzanian flights after the nation’s civil aviation agency issued a 28-day notice for the airline to streamline operations or have its license revoked. “FastJet Tanzania would like to inform its customers who had booked a ticket to travel in December and January that it has temporarily halted its operations,” the airline said …

Bloomberg Lego A/S wants to make sure any plastic toy figurine unwrapped in an American home during the holidays isn’t what the toymaker calls a copycat of its own products. The Danish toymaker is asking a federal judge in Connecticut to prevent Zuru Toys Inc. from selling some of its Max Build More and Mayka lines of construction toys at …

Bloomberg A breakaway union of Virgin Atlantic pilots that called strikes during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays extended the job action to the first eight weekends of 2019, according to an emailed statement. The Professional Pilots Union sought help from the conciliation service ACAS to resolve the dispute, but Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. won’t negotiate until it calls off …