Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron made history in the French legislative elections, just not in the way he hoped. The 44-year-old centrist became the first president in decades to fail to garner an absolute majority in parliament, falling short of the 289-seat threshold. His alliance, however, will still remain the largest bloc. That means that while Macron may be able to ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) plans to scrap rules introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis designed to test whether borrowers could afford their mortgages in the event of significant interest rate rises. The central bank’s Financial Policy Committee said it would withdraw the so-called affordability test from August 1, according to a statement on Monday. The rule, ...

  Bloomberg Jyske Bank agreed to buy the Danish unit of Svenska Handelsbanken, in what is potentially the biggest bank deal in Denmark in two decades. Jyske will pay a cash consideration to be determined at the closing, plus a premium of $420 million for the unit which has assets of almost $10 billion, the banks said in statements on ...

  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will support internationalisation of the country’s popular unified payments interface (UPI) digital payments system, part of its vision for the coming years. “Enhanced interest evinced by major countries across the globe in India’s UPI could accelerate growth in trade and commerce with partnering countries while reducing speed and cost of remittances,” the ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) policy of monetary easing should remain on track for now, considering the negative impact a change would have on smaller companies. Monetary policy “should be judged comprehensively by taking into account the trends of the economy as a whole,” Kishida said on a Fuji Television network program. “A ...

Bloomberg European companies could find it hard to bargain for the kinder interest rates that the relationship-driven corporate loan market typically offers, as inflation and tighter monetary policy begin to bite into their funders’ pockets. Pricing is likely to rise for corporate loan borrowers in the near future, said Carlo Fontana, head of global syndicate at UniCredit SpA. “Banks’ cost ...

  Bloomberg Chinese banks kept their main lending rates unchanged on Monday, with the start of a gradual economic recovery from Covid lockdowns and tighter monetary policy in the rest of the world clouding the outlook for more central bank stimulus. The one-year loan prime rate was left at 3.7%, in line with forecasts and where it’s been since a ...

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA has expressed interest in a potential acquisition of ABN Amro Bank NV, the Dutch consumer lender that’s been government-owned since the financial crisis, according to people with knowledge of the matter. France’s biggest bank reached out for a meeting with the Dutch government and discussed its interest in a transaction, the people said, asking not ...

  Bloomberg Bitcoin struggled to hold above the closely-watched $20,000 level, extending a period of marked volatility that saw huge weekend swings. The largest cryptocurrency falls as much as 4.8% on Monday and was trading at $19,914 as of 7:32 am in London. Ether at one point shed 7.8% but held above $1,000. Altcoins like Solana, Cardano and Dogecoin declined. ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s stock exchange is planning to allow cash market traders to use multiple banks to settle transactions, a move that will help diversify risks and may also mitigate the dangers posed by any escalation in sanctions by Washington and Beijing. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEX) is drawing up plans to allow traders to sign up multiple ...