Bloomberg The US Treasury Department said it hasn’t identified any banks or other financial institutions linked to a group of people sanctioned in October over China’s crackdown on Hong Kong. The decision, announced in a report required by Congress, is likely to come as a relief to major banks that had sought to unwind any connection to those sanctioned for ...

Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc’s Black employees are paid about 20% less than their colleagues as British lenders struggle with their representation across senior positions. The median pay gap between Black employees and other peers was 19.7%, while the bonus gap was 37.6%, according to the bank’s April 2019-2020 report. “For our Black colleagues, the pay and bonus gap is ...

Bloomberg Brazil had its best year ever for equity sales, and Bank of America (BofA) Corp made the most of it. The Wall Street lender is this year’s top equity underwriter in the nation, handling 20.6 billion reais ($4 billion) and leapfrogging Banco Itau BBA and JPMorgan Chase & Co, which took the two top spots in 2019, data compiled ...

Bloomberg UK lenders would be forced to refund all victims of financial fraud if plans being proposed by an official watchdog are adopted, according to the Telegraph newspaper. The Payment Systems Regulator — an independent subsidiary of the Financial Conduct Authority — will lead a consultation due to begin within weeks on whether customers who are tricked into transferring money ...

Bloomberg Even if everyone agrees that vaccines will ignite the economy next year, Wall Street’s collective consciousness has no idea what it will mean for stocks. Forecasts among the people paid to fashion such estimates are all over the map — to an almost historic degree. The most bullish, Dubravko Lakos-Bujas at JPMorgan, predicts the return to normal will serve ...

Bloomberg Most equities markets in the Middle East advanced as investors looked to the rollout of mass vaccination programs for a fresh spur to prices. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawaul All Share Index gained the most in the region, climbing 0.3% in 10:27 am local time. Gauges in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait also rose, while Oman’s benchmark index slipped. Saudi ...

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s credit rating was pushed further into junk at S&P Global Ratings, which cited the nation’s deteriorating fiscal position as a risk to the sovereign’s ability to service debt. The country’s long-term foreign-currency credit rating was cut to CCC+ from B-, with a stable outlook, according to a statement from S&P. Sri Lanka’s credit score is now the ...

Bloomberg The UK will become the first major industrialised nation to end all public finance for fossil fuel projects overseas, in an effort to mark itself out as a leader in tackling climate change. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to make the announcement at a virtual United Nations summit , which he’s co-hosting with France, Italy and Chile. More ...

DUBAI / WAM In line with the aspirations of the city of Dubai and to provide the population and visitors of Dubai the highest quality of specialised access healthcare in an ever-evolving digital environment, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently discussed its priorities until 2071. Humaid Al Qutami, Director-General of the DHA, headed that meeting that took place on the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Authority of Social Contribution (Ma’an) launched its new initiative “Ghaya”, a financial literacy programme aimed at enhancing knowledge of financial management. Through cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority, 50 of its beneficiaries are to be enrolled on the inaugural initiative on December 13, 2020, in addition to other participants from the public.