Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) chief economist Peter Praet said the end of the institution’s bond-buying program — quantitative easing (QE) — this year doesn’t mean policy is being tightened, as he pointed to “increasingly noticeable” headwinds for the economy. The message comes as the Governing Council prepares for its December 13 meeting, when it will publish new economic forecasts …

Bloomberg The financial regulator of Danske Bank A/S says it’s now telling lenders to be more selective when choosing correspondent banks. The decision comes after Denmark’s biggest bank ended up at the center of one of Europe’s worst ever money laundering scandals. Danske’s regulator says some of the bank’s employees were probably involved in “criminal” acts, and the lender may …

Bloomberg Global governments are doing the most to propel the world economy in a decade just as growth slows. As leaders from the Group of 20 prepare to meet this week in Argentina, JPMorgan Chase & Co economists calculate easier fiscal policy will add 0.3 percentage point to global gross domestic product next year, the biggest impulse this decade. That’s …

Bloomberg FirstRand Ltd’s First National Bank (FNB) and a startup financial-technology company in South Africa are partnering to connect informal traders in townships with fast-moving consumer-goods companies. FNB is seeking to tap into a market that it estimates could consist of as many as 1 million enterprises that have largely been ignored and falls into the “unseen economy,” the Johannesburg-based …

Bloomberg Shoppers will spend an estimated $7.8 billion on Cyber Monday — a record — boosting a strong holiday shopping season. And Wall Street will likely shrug it off. Even a blockbuster holiday won’t divert the market’s attention from the rising interest rates that could hurt car and home sales next year and the escalating trade war between the US …

Bloomberg A winter storm moving across the Central Plains towards the Great Lakes disrupted air travel in Chicago and other cities on the busiest travel day of the year. The storm has blizzard-like conditions and is bringing gusty winds and 6 to 10 inches of snow that will stretch from Kansas City to Chicago, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster …

Bloomberg Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is pushing ahead with its China expansion, betting its strategy of selling premium coats directly to customers will help overcome a proliferation of knockoffs and the nation’s consumption slowdown. The Toronto, Canada-based company has dealt with counterfeits soon after it started selling globally two decades ago, CEO Dani Reiss said in an interview in Beijing. …

Bloomberg The Lion Air pilots whose plane nosedived into the Java Sea in October, killing all those aboard, were battling multiple malfunctions almost as soon as the doomed flight began, according to a trove of new data released by Indonesian investigators. They faced a cacophony of warnings that started seconds after takeoff and continued for the remaining 11 minutes before …

DUBAI / Emirates Business The value of announced deals with disclosed value in the Mena region increased by 105% to $10 billion (AED36.7 billion) in third quarter of 2018 from $4.9 billion in the same period last year, according to the EY Q3 Mena M&A report. Deal value remained consistent year-on-year. As many as 107 deals were announced in Q3 …

Dubai / Emirates Business Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are playing a vital role in expanding trade ties between the UAE and Caribbean region, according to the heads of chambers of commerce who spoke at the inaugural UAE-Caribbean Coopera- tion Forum in Dubai. During the forum, a panel discussion titled ‘the role of the private sector in building a connected and …