Bloomberg Mike Ashley, the founder of the Sports Direct sportswear chain, is prepared to offer a 50 million-pound ($66.5 million) loan to Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, which is teetering on the brink of administration, Sky News reported. The board of Frasers Group Plc, run by Ashley, has drawn up plans for an emergency loan to Arcadia, Sky reported, citing Chris …

Bloomberg British banks are finalising plans for outsourcing the recovery of billions of pounds in taxpayer-backed business loans issued during the Covid-19 pandemic. A consortium of lenders is expected to set up an entity that will oversee debt collectors tasked with chasing bad loans, people with knowledge of the matter said. A final decision is expected in early December, said …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co and Lloyds Banking Group Plc have expressed interest in buying Starling Bank Ltd, a British challenger startup lender, the Times reported. The sale of Starling could lead to the first big merger of an established lender with a startup in Britain, the newspaper said, without identifying its sources. American giant JPMorgan is preparing to launch …

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is considering an exit from US retail banking, according to a report by the Financial Times. In the coming weeks, senior managers will outline the plan to the bank’s board, the newspaper said, citing two unidentified people familiar with the matter. They are also likely to suggest reducing investment banking activities to concentrate on international clients …

Bloomberg A growing number of top European Central Bank (ECB) officials are voicing support for ending the de facto ban on banks paying dividends during the pandemic, laying the groundwork for a resumption next year and a return of investor confidence to the sector. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau became the third ECB governing council member to …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump formally nominated Brian Brooks to take over a key banking regulator, potentially forcing Joe Biden to fire him after the president-elect is sworn in. The White House said it had sent the nomination to the Senate, where Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo has already signalled that Brooks would get a confirmation hearing for a five-year …

Bloomberg China’s finance sector should open up further to support the “dual circulation” economic strategy and mitigate risks in the industry, a central bank official said. More liberalisation in the financial sector would provide extra support to the real economy, according to Liu Guiping, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). He was speaking at a forum organised …

Bloomberg Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) SA and Banco de Sabadell SA ended short-lived takeover talks in a disagreement over the price, setting back consolidation in a banking market hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussions about a purchase of Sabadell by BBVA to create the second-largest domestic lender in Spain collapsed after the two sides couldn’t agree on the …

Bloomberg In a record-breaking month that added $1.7 trillion to European equities, none rallied as hard as unloved bargain stocks. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index has surged 15% in November, on track to overtake the previous record set in April 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Now, like then, value and cyclical sectors such as banks, insurance …

Bloomberg Most Middle East stock markets advanced, taking their cue from rising crude oil prices and gains elsewhere in emerging markets last week. Indexes in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman climbed as much as 0.3%, while those in Kuwait slipped. The Tadawul All Share Index in Riyadh rose for the sixth consecutive session to trade at the highest …