Bloomberg France is planning to join the Netherlands in taking steps toward greater transparency in the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) 80 billion euros-a-month ($91 billion) quantitative-easing (QE) programme, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plans. In the first disclosure of its kind in 13 months of QE, the Dutch Central Bank has listed price and demand figures ...

Shanghai / Reuters China’s banking regulator said on Tuesday that lenders should tighten risk controls in their overseas branches, after some of the country’s top banks have come under foreign scrutiny for alleged compliance failings. Banks should clarify the responsibilities of staff in overseas branches, strengthen judgment of risk and make sure adequate checks are made on clients, the China ...

Reuters Bank Muscat has received all regulatory approvals to open a representative office in Iran, Oman’s largest lender said in a bourse filing on Tuesday. “The bank is in the process of registering the representative office and expects it to open later in 2016,” Bank Muscat said. On February 25, the bank said it planned to open an office in ...

Tokyo / Reuters Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stressed on Tuesday his readiness to expand monetary policy still further, saying that market moves would be key factors the central bank would examine in deciding when and how it might next expand stimulus. Kuroda maintained his optimism that Japan’s economy was recovering moderately, despite last week’s ‘tankan’ survey that showed ...

ZURICH / Reuters For much of its 125 years selling luxury goods, Switzerland’s family-run emporium Bongenie Grieder has been the kind of place where affluent shoppers felt at ease and staff were confident they had a job for life. Then came January 2015’s ‘franc shock’ when the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) dramatic decision to lift a cap against the euro ...

Reuters Department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as expenses soared and sales at established Saks Fifth Avenue stores dropped. The company’s cost of sales rose 74 percent in the fourth quarter ended January 30, while its selling, general and administrative expenses almost doubled. Saks Fifth Avenue, the company’s luxury chain, reported a 1.2 percent drop ...

Bloomberg Jambojet, the low-cost carrier owned by Kenya Airways Ltd., plans to add seven routes in east Africa in the next five years to expand in the region. The airline, which says it controls 37 percent of Kenya’s domestic aviation market, is considering starting its first international route this month, Chief Executive Officer Willem Hondius said in an interview in ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulator has suspended licences granted to Mahan Air, Iran’s largest privately-owned airline, to fly through its air space or land in its airports due to alleged violations of local safety rules. In a statement, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said it had monitored several violations committed by Mahan Air against the national regulations and ...

Bloomberg From an initial overture five months ago through a two-day bidding war last week, Alaska Air Group Inc. was determined to acquire Virgin America Inc. as a means toward national expansion – and protection from larger rivals. The combination boosts Alaska’s West Coast might with greater access to California, while providing more service to flight-constrained East Coast cities such ...

Los Angeles / AFP A Technicolor scientist surrounded by the latest virtual reality technology inspects a vial containing a few droplets of water — and one million copies of an old movie encoded into DNA. The company has come a long way since the Hollywood golden age, when the world gazed in awe at the lush palette of “The Wizard ...