After years of crisis management, heightened self-doubt and even existential threats, Europe is in a much better place. Economic growth is picking up, political uncertainty has diminished and, despite (if not partially because of) Brexit, the vision of an “ever-closer” regional union is energizing some new constructive thinking in core countries. Translating this into sustainable prosperity, however, is far from …

Lee Shau Kee, the billionaire chairman of Henderson Land Development Co., has said he will donate HK$1 billion ($128 million) to charity each year that the Hang Seng Index stays above 30,000, and double that if it reaches 40,000. The 89-year-old should be prepared to hand out the cash. Sure, Hong Kong’s benchmark gauge closed above 30,000 on only one …

Should central banks embrace cryptocurrencies, or even pioneer their own? In a nutshell, no. Crypto assets are an unusual innovation, still in flux and often poorly understood. Trying to centralize them in a bureaucracy is exactly the wrong way to go. Yet China’s central bank claims it is working towards a blockchain-based digital currency. Singapore has already experimented in this …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank is sticking to the substance of its plan to toughen bad-loan rules for euro-area banks even as it makes some adjustments in response to a barrage of criticism from Rome and Brussels, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The ECB was accused of overreach in its recent proposal to hold banks to firm …

Bloomberg A group of former Credit Suisse Group AG staff, led by Australian investment banker John Wylie, has started an Asia-Pacific credit investment fund to take advantage of banks reining in lending. Tanarra Credit Partners has raised more than A$285 million ($216 million) for its Asia-Pacific Fund I, which will invest in senior and mezzanine debt, and is targeting as …

Bloomberg It may well be the lowest interest rate ever set on the riskiest bank debt, and investors wanted seven times as much as was offered. Nordea Bank AB’s issuance of so-called additional Tier 1 notes, which act much like equity if a lender gets into trouble, got a good deal of attention this week as it became clear the …

Bloomberg A new assault by Chinese authorities on the country’s cash micro-lenders threatens to stymie any new listings in New York, as regulators in Beijing escalate their campaign to reduce risks in China’s $40 trillion financial-services sector. According to the International Financial News, China plans to purge the country’s 157 online micro-lenders, leaving only large state-owned companies and the biggest …

Bloomberg Consumer spending is booming. Interest rates are bottoming out. Eastern Europe’s banking sector is on an upswing. After surviving the toxic mix of near-zero borrowing costs, harsh regulatory curbs and damage from foreign-currency mortgages, lenders are benefiting from economic expansion accelerating to the fastest in years across much of the European Union’s east. Polish banks’ combined net income rose …

Bloomberg Indonesian authorities evacuated some 100,000 people in the island of Bali and shut its airport after Mount Agung volcano erupted, prompting airlines to cancel about 445 flights linking one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia. Relocation from around Mount Agung’s crater began as volcanologists warned of a “very high likelihood” for a larger eruption, the National Disaster …

Bloomberg The holiday shopping season is off to a strong start and retailers hope to continue the momentum today—Cyber Monday—the biggest online spending day of the year. Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are vying for holiday spending with competing deals on flat-screen televisions, toys and gadgets. Traditional retailers Macy’s Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and JC Penney Co. have all …