Reuters France’s Credit Agricole has agreed to sell about half its 31.1 percent stake in Banque Saudi Fransi to billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding for $1.54 billion. The sale was part of a wider review of Credit Agricole’s assets and markets to meet new banking rules and tougher economic conditions. Sources had said in March it picked JPMorgan …

Bloomberg As the Swiss franc weakens, the nation’s central bank must decide whether it can afford to relax a little. The currency’s 5 percent decline against the euro over the past three months is good news for the Swiss National Bank in its long-running bid to revive inflation. For President Thomas Jordan and fellow policy makers meeting this week, it …

Bloomberg Banks from China, Japan and Canada have overseen a surge in overseas lending since the financial crisis, helping to cushion a deep slide in cross-border capital flows thanks especially to a retreat by European banks, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. While the stock of global foreign holdings—including loans, equities, bonds and foreign direct investment—has remained about the same …

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India will have scope to cut benchmark interest rates once again as growth in Asia’s third-largest economy slows and consumer-price gains stay within the central bank’s target range, according to Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. “You have a confluence of favorable CPI, lower GDP growth and a necessity to keep rates stable with easing bias,” …

Bloomberg Japan’s regional banks are turning toward private equity, hedge funds and real estate in search of higher returns as regulatory concerns restrict ownership of foreign bonds. Alternative assets was the favoured choice of investment for five lenders, according to a Bloomberg survey of 11 regional banks conducted in August. Foreign bonds was picked by three respondents, while none of …

Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd. appointed Sim Tshabalala as sole chief executive officer, ending a dual role he shared with Ben Kruger, and making him the first black person to lead Africa’s largest lender independently. Kruger, 58, will step down as joint-CEO immediately and continue as an executive director, reporting to Tshabalala, 49, Johannesburg-based Standard Bank said. The joint leadership …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s splashy takeover of Whole Foods, complete with deep price cuts, did more than bring a surge of publicity to the chain: It boosted customer traffic by 25 percent. That’s the finding of Foursquare Labs Inc., which compiled location information during the first two days after Amazon completed its acquisition of the grocer. The data, culled from shoppers’ …

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May asked US President Donald Trump to intervene in a court dispute between Boeing Co. and Canada’s Bombardier Inc. over state aid, her office said. The request, made in a call with the president on September 5, came as her government seeks to protect jobs at a Bombardier plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland. May’s government …

Bloomberg The crisis afflicting much of the retail industry has spared dollar stores in Canada, where industry leader Dollarama Inc. keeps opening new locations and improving profit margins. Canada’s largest dollar-store chain posted earnings that topped analysts’ estimates last quarter and raised its gross-margin forecast for the year. While the Montreal-based company added 17 net new locations, part of the …

Bloomberg Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, is holding out for assurances about the future of Airbus SE’s A380 programme before committing to an $8 billion order for more of the double-decker aircraft. While Airbus is pushing for a deal at November’s air show in Dubai, where the carrier is based, concern that the value of used A380s will plummet …