Bloomberg The UK’s auditing watchdog has started an investigation into Mazars’ audit of French Connection Group Plc. The Financial Reporting Council said on Wednesday the probe would focus on the year ending on January 31, 2020 without disclosing further details. The struggling UK fashion retailer has failed to keep pace on price with its high street rivals and has been …

Bloomberg Mondelez International Inc will require employees at its offices in Chicago, Miami and East Hanover, New Jersey, to be fully vaccinated “as a condition of employment,” according to a statement. The maker of Chips Ahoy! cookies and Halls cough drops said that vaccine adoption “is essential to lowering case counts, preventing Covid hospitalisations and deaths and ending this pandemic,” …

Bloomberg Toronto home sales posted their first increase in six months as the end-of-summer holidays finally brought buyers some new supply, though it still wasn’t enough to alleviate a historically tight market or keep prices from continuing their upward march. The number of Toronto homes changing hands climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in September, the first rise from one month …

Bloomberg US futures fall with stocks as surging energy prices stoked inflationary pressures ahead of a key US employment report. Treasury yields extended an advance. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts declined, with tech giants such as Apple Inc and Facebook Inc down in premarket trading. European equities slid to a two-month low, with natural gas prices soaring even as …

Bloomberg Hong Kong is studying an expansion of trading in stocks denominated in the yuan as China pushes to gain broader international acceptance of its currency. In her annual policy address, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, said the city was looking at expanding channels for yuan flows from mainland China, including allowing trading of yuan-denominated stocks via an established link to …

Bloomberg UK oil-service provider Petrofac Ltd must pay a $95 million penalty by a London judge for failing to prevent bribery between 2011 and 2017. The penalty includes a $64 million fine and a $31 million confiscation order. The levy comes after the company pleaded guilty to seven bribery offenses, in a deal with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). …

Bloomberg The airline industry’s main lobby group adopted a target of eliminating carbon emissions on a net basis by 2050, a goal that will require balancing the fight against climate change with the need to spur demand in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Current airline targets aren’t ambitious enough, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh said …

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd kicked off a process to buy more than 100 new planes worth in excess of $9 billion as it pushes ahead with plans to start ultra-long flights halfway around the globe. The airline will bring in the new aircraft by 2034 to renew its aging domestic fleet of Boeing Co 737-800s and smaller Boeing 717s. Qantas …

Bloomberg SpiceJet Ltd Chairman Ajay Singh wants to expand the company’s fleet of passenger jets and cargo haulers as the Indian airline’s financial performance recovers after a punishing stretch during the pandemic. Singh said the no-frills carrier has a “reasonable chance” of reaching break-even this quarter through December thanks to a combination of cost cuts, renegotiated aircraft leases, an uptick …

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc hasn’t decided yet how it will handle a federal mandate for coronavirus vaccinations for workers at certain companies, saying there are “different ways” to make sure 100% of its employees get the shots. Delta’s delay splits from other US airlines such as American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp and Alaska Air Group Inc that …