Bloomberg Europe’s banks waited more than a decade for higher interest rates to make lending more profitable again. Now some governments are threatening to spoil the party. As the European Central Bank (ECB) prepares to raise rates on Thursday, politicians from Madrid to Warsaw are calling for mortgage holidays and bank taxes to shield consumers from higher borrowing costs and …

  Bloomberg Santander UK became the latest bank to help staff with the cost of living squeeze, saying it would give more than 11,000 employees a 4% pay rise. All staff earning less than £35,000 ($42,039), representing 60% of the workforce, will be eligible for the raise from August, the company said in a statement. Santander UK will also increase …

  Bloomberg Nigerian lenders are impeding the use of the nation’s digital currency because they are concerned about losing revenue from traditional banking services, according to central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. Only about 700,000 customers have created an e-naira wallets since its introduction in October last year, the central bank said early this year. There are about 55 million bank …

  Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of a $235.6 million loan to Kenya as the East African nation met the lender’s targets and made progress in addressing debt vulnerabilities. The approval brings the IMF’s total disbursements to Kenya to $1.21 billion, out of a total of about $2.34 billion available under a 38-month program approved in …

Bloomberg The UK’s accounting watchdog blasted Mazars and BDO for the “unacceptable” quality of their audits after carrying out an annual review of the industry’s seven largest firms. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said that four of the eight audits reviewed at Mazars and five of the 12 audits reviewed at BDO required more than limited improvements. The regulator added …

  Bloomberg A sweeping piece of legislation that would overhaul how the cryptocurrency industry is regulated by Washington is unlikely to be voted on this year by the US Senate, according to one of the lawmakers driving the effort. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said that the full bill she released last month with Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand would probably not be …

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc aims for a bigger slice of the business with German companies after adding employees and hiring a new country head. The London-based lender, which gets the majority of its revenue in Germany from retail clients, wants to double its market share in investment and corporate banking to around 6%, Ingrid Hengster, who took over as country …

  Bloomberg US equity futures fell with stocks amid rising concern that Europe will lose access to Russian gas, sending the region into a recession that could have global repercussions. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 turned lower, reversing earlier gains, along with the Stoxx 600 Index as the European Union (EU) laid out preparations for a …

  Bloomberg Chinese tech stocks advanced following a report that regulators are wrapping up an investigation into Didi Global Inc with a hefty fine, with traders again hoping this will herald an end to a crackdown on the sector. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.6%, with Meituan and NetEase Inc contributing the most to the rise. The move also …

  Bloomberg A lack of progress by the world’s largest economies to reduce the debt burden of the poorest nations as borrowing costs increase will cause worsening poverty rates and instability, World Bank Group President David Malpass said. “Debt relief is of major importance for the world because the interest rates are going up,” Malpass said in an interview on …