Bloomberg Australia’s securities regulator is probing Westpac Banking Corp on allegations of insider trading, just months after the country’s second-biggest lender paid a record fine to settle breaches of anti-money laundering laws. The allegations relate to Westpac’s role in executing a A$12 billion ($9.3 billion) interest-rate swap transaction with a consortium of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd and a group of IFM ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) named new leaders for its global mergers and acquisitions business as investment-banking fees surge to a record. Patrick Ramsey, head of global M&A, was promoted to chairman of global M&A alongside Steve Baronoff, according to a memo from Matthew Koder, who runs the corporate and investment bank. A company spokesman confirmed the contents of ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for an eighth straight meeting, warning its forecast for an economic recovery was threatened by the country’s biggest virus wave since the pandemic began. The Bank of Thailand held the policy rate on Wednesday at 0.5% in a unanimous decision, as expected by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg survey. ...

Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd’s (ANZ) first-half profit climbed as the lender wound back bad debt provisions made during the pandemic and the country’s economic recovery builds. Cash earnings from continuous operations rose to A$3 billion ($2.3 billion) in the six months through March 31, compared with A$1.4 billion in the same period a year earlier, according ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) said it’s prepared to further tighten mortgage lending restrictions if needed to rein in the country’s red-hot housing market. The Reserve Bank would use loan-to-value ratios or new tools currently under consideration to restrict the amount of money banks can lend for house purchases, the RBNZ said in its semi-annual Financial Stability Report on ...

Bloomberg European stocks and US futures rebounded from the sell-off in technology shares as focus turned to positive earnings and signs of economic recovery from the pandemic. The Stoxx 600 Index jumped more than 1%, with miners and travel shares among the benchmark’s biggest gainers. Tech stocks bounced back from Tuesday’s rout sparked by fears of quickening inflation. Shares of ...

Bloomberg India stocks rise after the central bank unveiled measures to further support the economy as coronavirus cases continue to surge. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.4% to 48,452.56, as of 11:33 am in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude. Thirteen of the 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd climbed, led by a ...

ERBIL / WAM The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, in cooperation with the Consulate General of the UAE in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, has provided financial assistance to the displaced Iraqis in the Debaga camp located on the outskirts of Erbil Governorate. The move aimed at alleviating the displaced suffering in the face of the difficult conditions, especially in ...

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco’s profit soared in the first quarter following a recovery in global oil and gas markets, though free cash flow remained too low to fully cover dividend payments. The world’s biggest energy firm kept its quarterly payout at $18.75 billion. The money is a vital source of cash for the kingdom. The bumper results follow those last week ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The General Authority of Civil Aviation and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority announced the extension of the suspension of entry for travelers from India on all flights on national and foreign carriers, as well as for transit passengers coming from India, with the exception of transit flights traveling to the UAE and bound ...