Bloomberg Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to pay the biggest civil penalty in Australian corporate history, after admitting to more than 53,000 money-laundering law breaches that allowed drug syndicates to funnel millions of dollars offshore. The nation’s largest lender will pay A$700 million ($530 million) to bring to an end the 10-month saga, which led to the departure of …

Bloomberg Indian lenders are raising interest rates even before any central bank action as the strongest loan demand in four years amid weak deposit growth pressures funding costs. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank are among the nation’s biggest banks that increased their benchmark lending rates last week. The Reserve Bank of India, on the …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. won the title of world’s largest currency trader by market share, ending Citigroup Inc.’s four-year run at the top, according to a Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc survey that featured a new methodology. JPMorgan took a 12.1 percent share, up from 10.3 percent last year. UBS Group AG came in second with 8.3 percent, and XTX …

Bloomberg Bubbling tensions between the world’s top two economies over tariffs pose no bar to diving into Chinese stocks, unless a full-blown trade conflict breaks out, according to Deutsche Bank AG. The US is on course to release its final list targeting $50 billion of Chinese imports with tariffs by June 15, with the levies taking effect soon after. And …

Bloomberg China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd. is in talks with Airbus SE and Boeing Co. to order as many as 200 planes as the state-backed lessor seeks to meet surging demand from Asian carriers. The company is looking at single-aisle and wide-body jets from the planemakers, with the bigger aircraft slated to account for 20 percent of the order, …

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. will place an order for ultra long-range planes from Airbus SE or Boeing Co. next year, starting the clock for the two manufacturers to win over the airline. The planes, which must be able to fly from Sydney to London or New York without a break with a full payload, will be delivered in 2022, Chief …

Bloomberg Japan Airlines Co. has decided to go head-first into the home turf of Asia’s largest low-fare carrier. The Japanese operator, which is starting its own budget carrier next month, will begin flying to Southeast Asia initially, Masaru Onishi, a director at Japan Airlines, said in an interview in Sydney. The new company will be able to lower per-seat costs …

Bloomberg The International Air Transport Association (IATA) cut its profit target for the global aviation market this year, predicting lower returns than six months ago as rising fuel prices and labour costs eat into the industry. Net income for 2018 is likely to total $33.8 billion, 12 percent lower than a December forecast for $38.4 billion, the industry’s main trade …

Bloomberg By putting his son Antoine in charge of image and communication, Bernard Arnault is sending a powerful message: LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods maker, needs to make room in its executive ranks for the owner’s family. Arnault sent a memo to employees on June 1 announcing Antoine’s new responsibilities, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News. …

Bloomberg All commitments made so far in talks with the US over trade will be withdrawn if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to impose tariffs, China said. While both sides reported some progress in discussions this weekend about how to reduce China’s $375 billion goods-trade surplus with the US, Trump’s revival last week of a plan to slap …