Bloomberg Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen opened 2021 by reaffirming her willingness to talk with China, while vowing to stand up to mounting military pressure from Beijing. Tsai used a brief News Year’s Day address to criticise the near-daily patrols of Chinese military ships and aircraft that have stretched Taiwan’s more limited military resources. She warned that the actions had “threatened ...

Bloomberg Mali’s state prosecutor charged six people, including former Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, of planning a coup against the interim government. The alleged crimes include attempts to destabilise and disrupt the current regime, according to a statement by the state prosecutor. Cisse, who hasn’t been detained, denied the allegations in a statement on December 22. His lawyers will file charges ...

Bloomberg 2020 was a year the entire world changed, but one thing held steady in an elite corner of Wall Street: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ended up on top. Goldman was the world’s top adviser on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for the fourth consecutive year in 2020, and was the only bank with more than 30% of market share, according to ...

Bloomberg Switzerland’s central bank spent 11 billion francs ($12.5 billion) on interventions in the third quarter, adding to an already-high tally that got the country labelled a currency manipulator by the US. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) acquired foreign currencies worth more than 100 billion francs win the first nine months of the year — the biggest sum since 2012 ...

Bloomberg Poland’s central bank is analysing the impact of potential interest-rate cuts that could take place in the first quarter of 2021, Governor Adam Glapinski said. While the current, record-low reference rate of 0.1% is “appropriate and best suits the situation,” the central bank may reduce it further, the Governor said in an excerpt of an interview published on the ...

Bloomberg China’s regulators will impose caps on banks’ lending to the real estate sector for the first time, in their latest efforts to prevent systematic risks after a series of property curbs in recent years did little to damp buyer enthusiasm. Under the new mechanism, loans to developers will be capped at 40% for the nation’s largest state-owned lenders while ...

Bloomberg Commerzbank AG will set aside 610 million euros ($745 million) in the fourth quarter to cover restructuring costs after reaching an agreement with the works council on planned job cuts. The amount will cover the elimination of 2,300 positions between 2021 and 2024, part of a restructuring plan announced last year, according to a statement from the bank. Commerzbank ...

Bloomberg Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) capital-markets division grabbed the top spot for Canadian equity sales in 2020, leading the ranking for the first time in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic pushed companies to stockpile cash. BMO Capital Markets advised on 52 equity and equity-linked issues with a total value of C$3.76 billion ($2.95 billion). Overall, Canada saw 488 issues ...

Bloomberg The auto industry dodged disaster when the UK and European Union (EU) sealed a post-Brexit trade accord, but not before carmakers announced factory closures and called off plans to make several new vehicles in the country. More damage may still be done even with the deal. Automakers including Nissan Motor Co. might struggle to qualify some UK-assembled models for ...

Bloomberg Ford Motor Co. is reversing plans to cede most of its Indian operations to Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., deciding to pull out of a proposed joint venture and continue its standalone business in the country. The companies agreed to terminate the venture after reassessing in part due to the global coronavirus pandemic, they said. The decision ends a deal ...