Bloomberg Unicaja Banco SA is moving closer to a long-mooted takeover of Spanish rival Liberbank as consolidation gathers pace among the nation’s financial institutions. The two banks have restarted informal talks with the help of advisers, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Liberbank is working with Deutsche …

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is facing intensifying national scrutiny for its work culture as lawmakers focus on emerging allegations of discrimination against women. Twelve female members of parliament have tabled a motion asking how the SNB aims to boost the number of female managers, what it’s doing to prevent ill treatment and whether it has an ombudsman to …

Bloomberg Consumer prices in the 19-nation euro area fall more than economists forecast in September, keeping up pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) as it debates whether to add stimulus to support the recovery from the coronavirus recession. The inflation rate came in at -0.3%, slightly below the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Prices for services were a …

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank does little deliberation, ignores opposing views and its decision-makers “seem hostile to a consideration of evidence or research,” according to Peter Tulip, a former senior member of its economic research department. “We have a board that does not understand monetary policy or statistical research,” Tulip said in a farewell email to colleagues when he resigned from …

Bloomberg While Amazon.com Inc. and its FANG cohort have grabbed the headlines, some of the biggest stock-market winners in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic may be companies you’ve never heard of. Investors seeking stellar returns have been snapping up shares of small companies that range from e-commerce merchants to mobile-game makers. Shares of German retailers Westwing Group AG and Home24 …

Bloomberg First it was a shouting match of a presidential debate that raised doubts about the sanctity of the electoral process, then news Donald Trump had fallen ill with Covid-19. The S&P 500’s verdict on such a nerve-wracking week? Up 1.5%. Even with the decline on the president’s diagnosis, stocks managed enough buoyancy over the first four days to come …

Bloomberg Oil falls in New York and the global benchmark Brent plummeted to the lowest level since June after President Donald Trump’s positive Covid-19 diagnosis combined with labour market weakness heightened concerns over an economic recovery. US crude futures declined 4.3% and Brent slid below $40 a barrel in volatile trading. A top World Health Organisation (WHO) official said the …

Bloomberg India will subsidise interest costs for small borrowers who had availed of a six-month loan repayment holiday to survive as the pandemic devastated cash flows, according to court documents seen by Bloomberg. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will pay the “interest on interest” on loans of as much as 20 million rupees ($273,000) for the duration of the Reserve …

Bloomberg Changi Airport Group said the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t abating as officials behind the world’s best airport warned of a “daunting” period ahead. Passenger traffic for Changi for the fiscal year ended in March declined for the first time in more than a decade, as a slump in the last two months of the period wiped out …

Bloomberg Malaysia Airlines Bhd has reached out to lessors, creditors and key suppliers as part of its “urgent” restructuring exercise as it sees little sign of the pandemic easing. The flag carrier, wholly owned by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, would take more drastic measures if the restructuring can’t be completed over the next few months, according to …