Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is in talks with a state-owned conglomerate about a potential deal involving its stake in Weibo Corp, as Beijing moves to curb the influence of China’s tech giants in the sensitive media sphere. China’s e-commerce leader is exploring options for its roughly 30% slice of the Twitter-like social media service, according to people familiar …

  Bloomberg The two Wall Street investment-banking titans dominating this year’s dealmaking frenzy are opening up their wallets to try to keep their bankers happy — and ratcheting up pressure on rivals to follow suit. Goldman Sachs Group Inc may boost its bonus pool for investment banking by about 50%, and JPMorgan Chase & Co may reach for a 40% …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG appointed a new chief executive officer (CEO) for its Spanish unit amid a revamp of its operations in several European countries. Inigo Martos will replace Antonio Rodriguez-Pina in July, the bank said in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by a spokesman. Martos will also become head of the lender’s retail and wealth …

  Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) kept interest rates at a record low and stuck to its description of the franc as “highly valued” after the currency’s latest advance against the euro. Both the deposit and the policy rate were held at -0.75% as widely predicted by economists. With the global economic recovery on shaky footing due to the …

  Bloomberg NatWest Group Plc was sued by three trading firms over manipulation of security futures, a day after the bank pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud and agreed to pay $35 million in penalties. M&N Trading LLC, Kohl Trading LLC and Port 22 LLC claim NatWest’s spoofing of security futures from 2008 to 2014 caused them “economic injury” …

  Bloomberg Bank of Montreal (BMO) has told its investment bankers they should go back to working from home, joining a growing list of companies vacating offices as Covid-19 cases climb. Canada’s fourth-largest bank instructed its North American investment and corporate banking division to resume remote work until the week of January 17, according to an email sent to staff …

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG is imposing more stringent policies for fossil-fuel clients as pressure mounts on the finance industry to stop providing capital to sectors at the heart of global warming. The German lender is giving existing clients that get at least 20 percent of revenue or power production from coal until 2025 to spell out how they’ll exit the …

  Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank unexpectedly accelerated the pace of interest rate increases, a hawkish move that seeks to contain quickly-deteriorating inflation expectations. Policy makers led by outgoing central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon raised the benchmark rate by a half-point to 5.5%, their most aggressive hike since February 2017. They surprised all but eight of 25 economists surveyed …

  Bloomberg For equity investors in South Korea, this was the year the metaverse arrived. Six of the nation’s 10 best-performing stocks in 2021 are linked to the virtual universe or non-fungible tokens, including Wemade Max Co, which has surged 1,500% as it seeks to be a blockchain game developer, and its top holder Wemade Co Virtual effects creator Giantstep …

  Bloomberg Stocks in Europe edged higher on Wednesday along with US equity-index futures as investors assessed the economic implications of the omicron coronavirus outbreak. Treasuries and the dollar were steady. The Stoxx Europe 600 index nudged to within a whisker of another record, with retailers outperforming. Technology shares declined, following the sector’s retreat in Asia and the US. Contracts …