Bloomberg One year ago, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) was in flames. Police and student protesters faced off at the campus — one of Hong Kong’s best-known — in a chaotic 16-day siege last November that became a symbol of the battle between the city’s China-backed administration and anti-government protesters. Today, what had once been a bustling, freely accessible campus ...

Bloomberg French lender Credit Agricole SA offered to buy Italy’s Credito Valtellinese for about 737 million euros ($875 million) in cash as consolidation accelerates in European banking. The unsolicited bid of 10.50 euros a share, made through its Italian unit, represents a 21.4% premium to the November 20 closing price, according to a statement from Credit Agricole. The French lender, ...

Bloomberg President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as his Treasury secretary, people familiar with the matter said, choosing the first woman and a seasoned central banker for the nation’s top economic policy job as the coronavirus pandemic threatens another US downturn. In Yellen, Biden is likely to find support from both Wall ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc is planning a European stock trading platform to ensure its clients can still buy and sell shares even without a post-Brexit agreement to allow dealing in London. The Wall Street bank has applied to French regulators to start a Paris-based trading venue called SIGMA X Europe, according to the company. It intends to open before ...

Bloomberg Governments and central banks face a tricky balance between shocking the economy if they end pandemic support too soon, and undermining it if they keep measures in place too long, according to a European Central Bank (ECB) report. Noting the sheer scale of the fiscal, monetary and regulatory support, it said the effort has been “vital” in helping companies ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG expects to book a $450 million impairment on its stake in York Capital Management as the US firm winds down most of its hedge-fund strategies, the latest blow for the bank after a series of setbacks this year. The charge, which could still change, will be booked in the fourth quarter in the asset management ...

Bloomberg Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender, plans to more than double customer numbers over the next three years by expanding in the rest of Africa. The Lagos-based lender is creating a holding company structure that will enable it to diversify into other financial services separately from the banking business. Access Bank, which has plans to be present in 22 ...

Bloomberg Global stocks advanced for a second day as investors cheered the start of US President-elect Joe Biden’s formal transition. The dollar extended its decline to the lowest since 2018. Energy stocks led the Stoxx 600 Index higher, with travel companies and banks also notching gains in a broad advance. Haven assets were weaker, with gold, Treasuries and the dollar ...

Bloomberg Foreign investors are piling money into major Asian equity markets outside of China at the fastest pace in seven years this quarter, as vaccine successes add to the global risk-on mood. Nine regional stock markets have lured a combined about $48 billion since October 1, the most since the fourth quarter of 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. ...

Bloomberg Gold fell to a four-month low as growing optimism over a coronavirus vaccine and signs of a increasing momentum in US economic growth stifled demand for the metal as a haven. Bullion extended last week’s loss after AstraZeneca Plc said its vaccine prevented most people from developing Covid-19, marking another promising development in the quest to end the pandemic. ...