Bloomberg China will risk international isolation if it fails to allow a “real” investigation on its territory into the origins of the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. Sullivan’s comments follow last week’s call by Group of Seven leaders including US President Joe Biden for another probe into how the virus originated. Biden ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lost a confidence vote in parliament, toppling his minority coalition and plunging the largest Nordic economy into political chaos. Lofven says he’ll now talk to his allies in parliament to figure out whether he can still patch together a viable coalition. Failing that, he may call a snap election, he said after losing Monday’s ...

Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen both fared worse than expected in the first round of the French regional election, in a disappointing twist for the two main contenders in the 2022 presidential race. Record-low turnout is a major talking point in France, with Frederic Dabi, deputy-head of Ifop, telling Le Figaro newspaper that abstention may ...

Bloomberg Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he plans pardons for nine Catalan separatists who were jailed for their role in the illegal independence referendum of 2017. Speaking to an audience of civic leaders in the Catalan capital, Barcelona, Sanchez, 49, said he’ll recommend that his cabinet approves pardons when it meets on Tuesday. Sanchez is currently governing in a ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) said it will grant lenders about 70 billion euros ($83 billion) of capital relief by extending a measure designed to help them keep supplying credit to the pandemic-struck economy. The ECB will allow lenders to continue to exclude deposits held at central banks when calculating their leverage ratio for nine months until the end ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings is targeting to become the number one wealth manager in Asia in “roughly five years” as Europe’s largest bank shifts capital to tap clients in the increasingly affluent region, according to HSBC Pinnacle Venture Chief Executive Officer Trista Sun. “Household wealth in China has grown so rapidly, become the second largest globally,” Sun said in a Bloomberg ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc shares fell the most in five months after the bank warned expenses would increase sharply as it invests to satisfy a pair of consent orders from regulators. Expenses in second quarter will likely jump to “somewhere in the middle” of a range of $11.2 billion to $11.6 billion, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told investors at a ...

Bloomberg China adjusted how banks can set deposit rates in a move that could lower longer term funding costs and boost economic growth. Under a new way of calculating the ceiling on deposits rates, banks will be allowed to add basis points on top of the existing benchmark rate instead of as before using a multiple. Under the new regime, ...

Bloomberg TSB Banking Group is set to ban more than 5 million customers from buying cryptocurrencies amid fears over “excessively high” fraud rates on trading platforms, according to a report by Telegraph newspaper. The company is the latest British bank to crack down on financial cyber-crime following temporary moves by Barclays Plc, Monzo Bank and Starling Bank to block transfers ...

Bloomberg Canada hired HSBC Holdings Plc and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) for its inaugural sale of green bonds, joining other nations including the UK and Germany in pursuing environmentally-friendly debt issuance. The banks will advise on the design of Canada’s green bond framework, assist in the development of an ongoing program and support the debut issuance, according to statements. The country ...