Soon after Equifax Inc. disclosed in early September that a data breach had exposed the private financial information of 145 million Americans, some advocated that the credit-reporting agency be shut down. At the very least, many thought, it would suffer some financial repercussions. Instead, Equifax reported its second-best quarter ever based on sales and its preferred measure of profits. In ...

In a surprise announcement, the Chinese Ministry of Finance declared that it will henceforth allow foreigners to own Chinese banks outright and gain majority stakes in insurance and securities firms. While dramatic, this isn’t China’s first effort to open up its economy to outside expertise and competition. If they want this one to succeed, officials will need to do more ...

The headline number is impressive: A quarter-trillion dollars worth of deals from China that President Donald Trump can use to show he’s creating opportunities for US businesses and jobs for his base. The reality, however, is that the roughly 15 agreements unveiled on Thursday are mostly non-binding memorandums of understanding and could take years to materialize—if they do at all. ...

What does the fox say? I’m still not sure. But I do know what Fox sees: a lot of money hiding, to the tune of $25 billion. Earlier this week came shocking news that the Murdoch media magnates had discussed selling a majority of 21st Century Fox Inc.’s assets to Walt Disney Co. — yes, to the owner of ABC ...

The big problem with artificial intelligence right now isn’t that it’s taking over; it’s that it’s being entrusted with serious tasks with real-world consequences before it works properly. It’s the equivalent of letting self-driving cars operate in a city without lane markings. A viral post published on Medium by artist James Bridle is the latest case in point. Bridle took ...

Bloomberg In the eyes of Morgan Stanley, bond traders would be wise to remember November 15. That’s when the Labor Department releases October inflation data, the final reading of the consumer price index before the Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting next month. Officials are widely expected to raise interest rates again, with the market pricing in a ...

Bloomberg The stock market actually can go down. US equities posted the first weekly loss in more than two months as investors turned leery after congressional Republicans made little progress in passing tax cuts. Shares that would benefit most from a lower levy burden led declines, though selling spread to economically sensitive stocks as credit markets flashed warnings signs about ...

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are finding patience pays off in China. The trio now have an advantage over some of their largest Wall Street rivals after officials in charge of the world’s No. 2 economy promised to let foreigners take majority stakes in securities firms there — raising limits that had long frustrated US ...

Bloomberg South Africa has limited space for counter-cyclical monetary policy to support economic expansion because inflation risks have increased, central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said. The balance of risks for growth in consumer prices is “on the upside,” with the rand weakening against the dollar, a higher oil price, and a chance that power prices will increase, he said in ...

Bloomberg Nazir Razak, chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. and brother of Malaysia’s prime minister, is helping start a regional private equity fund that will seek as much as $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Nazir will keep his role at CIMB, Malaysia’s second-largest bank, while acting as one of the fund’s five partners, according to the ...