Bloomberg Hong Kong’s banking sector, one of the most staid areas of its financial industry, is seeing an unusual spurt of recruitment as newly licensed virtual banks race to snap up talent. Four ventures that won permits have about 200 people in the city, which may more than double by the time they start operating, said Carol Cheung, a director …

Bloomberg Europe’s most hawkish central bank is preparing to raise borrowing costs again, defying a global economic slowdown that’s made most of its peers more cautious. Czech policy makers have held interest rates unchanged for the past three meetings as external risks including Brexit, trade wars, and weakening demand from neighboring Germany overshadowed domestic inflationary pressures. But with worst-case scenarios …

Bloomberg As Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues gather this week for a policy making meeting, some of them will likely have 1995 on their mind. That was the year that the Fed initiated a mid-course correction in monetary policy, cutting interest rates after a sustained bout of tightening. Now some officials and investors are beginning to wonder …

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co first learned from Boeing Co after a deadly Lion Air crash in October that an alert warning pilots of a sensor malfunction linked to the disaster wasn’t a standard feature on the 737 Max. The world’s largest 737 operator and its pilots had thought that the warning light worked on all Max jets, as it had …

Bloomberg Meicai, a Chinese startup that helps farmers sell vegetables to restaurants, and supermarket operator Wumart Stores Inc are among firms picked for the next round of bidding for German food wholesaler Metro AG’s $1.5 billion Chinese business, people with knowledge of the matter said. Local grocery chain Yonghui Superstores Co and Suning Holdings Group, the parent company of Chinese …

Bloomberg A strike by airline pilots across Scandinavia is set to erode profits at SAS AB as investors and passengers await news of a breakthrough in labour talks. Since starting, the strike already looks set to cause almost 3,000 cancellations, affecting about 280,000 passengers. SAS, in a written comment to Bloomberg, said the development is having a “very negative effect …

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates has renewed its support to Mauritius and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) which outlines joint activities to promote the two countries. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group met a VIP delegation from Mauritius and Seychelles at Arabian Travel Market, 2019. A Memorandum of Understanding was …

Bloomberg The number of new licenses approved for foreign businesses in Saudi Arabia rose by 70 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority. Applications from British and Chinese companies drove the increase, rising by 86 percent and 71 percent, respectively, Ibrahim Al Omar, governor of Sagia, as the kingdom’s investment-promotion …

DUBAI / WAM Nasdaq Dubai on Sunday welcomed the listing of a $1.5 billion sukuk by Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The listing underlines Dubai’s role as the largest centre globally for sukuk listings by nominal value currently totalling $60.89 billion. IDB now has 10 sukuk listed on the Middle East’s international financial exchange with a total value of $12.54 billion. …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp’s worst refining performance in almost two decades may revive questions about the so-called integrated model engineered by founder John D. Rockefeller and espoused by every CEO in the company’s 149-year history. A surprise loss in a business line Exxon typically relies on to prop up more volatile units eroded first-quarter profit and cast doubt on the …