BLOOMBERG The Treasury Department will lead a new senior-level working group that will soon start regular talks on the possible launch of a digital dollar. The group will include “leaders” from the Treasury, Federal Reserve, National Security Council and other agencies, Nellie Liang, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, said. In the coming months the group “will begin to meet regularly ...

BLOOMBERG Metro Bank Plc plans to open 11 new branches in the north of England from next year in a bid to grow its customer base, while keeping the costs “significantly” lower than its previous outlets. The new branches, which Metro calls “stores,” will have less surplus floor space and more cost-effective fixtures and fittings but still retain the “distinctive ...

BLOOMBERG Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) reported a surge in its trading businesses that helped fiscal first-quarter earnings top analysts’ estimates. Revenue from RBC Capital Markets — the largest capital-markets division among Canada’s banks — rose 4.3% to C$3.12 billion ($2.3 billion) in the three months through January, Royal Bank said. That beat analysts’ C$2.35 billion average estimate. National Bank ...

BLOOMBERG Deutsche Bank AG’s rates traders received some of the biggest increases in bonuses as Germany’s largest bank unveiled compensation details. The business, which saw revenue jump five-fold last quarter amid rapid increases in central bank interest rates, saw the largest gain in variable compensation within the securities unit, according to people familiar with the matter. Currency traders and the ...

BLOOMBERG Credit Suisse Group AG is escalating efforts to win back clients with deposit rates that are significantly higher than rivals as a run of senior banker departures adds urgency to its campaign to recoup assets. After unprecedented outflows in the fourth quarter, the Zurich-based lender has raised three-month rates to as much as about 6.5% for new money of ...

BLOOMBERG China sent the most warplanes near Taiwan in nearly two months, a move that comes as the US approved the sale of $619 million worth of arms to the democratically run island. Some 17 J-10 and four J-16 fighter jets were detected in the southwestern part of the island’s air-defense identification zone in the 24 hours to early Thursday, ...

BLOOMBERG Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a brief encounter with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India, their first in-person meeting since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago. The top US diplomat pressed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to move towards a peace deal with Ukraine and advocated for US citizens detained ...

BLOOMBERG Vladimir Putin called an attack in a village near the border with Ukraine “a terrorist act,” hours after scrapping plans to travel to southern Russia on Thursday over the episode. “They crossed into the border zone and opened fire on civilians” who were in a vehicle, Putin said in comments at the start of a televised video conference with ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and Q Holding PJSC signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen their partnership in humanitarian fields. The agreement outlines mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between the two parties and Q Holding’s role in supporting the ERC’s humanitarian and development efforts in the UAE and abroad. It also aims to promote corporate social responsibility ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) has, for the first time, met 80% of total power demand in Abu Dhabi using renewable and clean energy from its solar and nuclear energy plants. In the process, Ewec supplied approximately 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of the total 7.7GW system power demand. The significant achievement to meet 80% of total ...