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UBS bankers have a reason to look busy

If you’re a banker sitting somewhat idle at UBS Group AG, you may be feeling vulnerable today. The Swiss giant has picked Ralph Hamers — an outsider credited with making ING Groep NV one of Europe’s most digitally savvy and cost-efficient banks — as its new chief executive officer. That sets a clear strategic direction for UBS. The lender is ...

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Poverty is all about personal stress, not laziness

The nature of poverty in rich countries has changed. The sort of material deprivation common in developing nations is effectively a thing of the past. But millions of Americans lead precarious lives — always on the verge of getting evicted, not knowing where their next meal will come from, or unsure how they’ll be able to generate an income. This ...

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US stocks tumble amid China virus concerns; gold rises

Bloomberg US equity futures tumbled alongside stocks in Europe and Asia on Monday as concerns mounted about the ability of authorities to keep the coronavirus from spreading further beyond China. Havens including Treasuries and gold jumped. Contracts on the three main US stock benchmarks were all down more than 2%, with those on the S&P 500 Index pointing to the ...

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European stocks fall on virus fears

Bloomberg European equities haven’t had such a bad day in more than three years as increasing concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus hurt travel and luxury sectors. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell as much as 3.6%, the most since June 2016, led by the auto, mining and travel sectors. Luxury companies tumbled on fears that the epidemic ...

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ECB offcials say governments should ready virus response

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) policy makers from two of the euro area’s biggest economies said governments must shoulder most of the burden for rebooting economies if the coronavirus has a deeper impact on growth. France’s Francois Villeroy de Galhau and Italy’s Ignazio Visco were speaking at the Group of 20 meeting of central bankers and finance ministers in Riyadh, ...

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Bank of Ireland shares fall to a four-month low after profit drop

Bloomberg Bank of Ireland Group Plc shares fell to a four-month low after profits fell, impairment charges rose more than expected and the lender’s dividend disappointed investors. Ireland’s biggest lender posted an underlying profit for 2019 of 758 million euros ($821 million), down nearly a fifth from a year ago, the company said in Dublin on Monday. The drop was ...

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Australian dollar nears tipping point thanks to ultra-low rates

Bloomberg A decade-long slide in Australian interest rates is threatening to turn one of the global currency market’s most popular wagers on its head. Investors with an appetite for a little risk had a winner for years with a carry trade that saw them borrow trillions of yen at near-zero rates and use the money to buy Australian dollars. Holding ...

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Mustier exits race for HSBC CEO in blow to UK bank

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA’s Jean Pierre Mustier pulled out of the race to become chief executive officer of HSBC Holdings Plc, a rejection that adds to uncertainty at the top of Europe’s largest lender and extends the search for a new boss into its seventh month. Mustier, who led a turnaround at the Milan-based bank over the last four years, plans ...

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China weighs setting up local bad-debt managers

Bloomberg China’s banking regulator is considering setting up new regional bad-debt managers to help clean up risks after the failure of thousands of peer-to-peer lending platforms, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Companies in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Shenzhen have submitted applications to set up local asset managers dealing with bad loans, especially those from online lending platforms, said ...

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China’s credit surged in Jan before virus

Bloomberg China’s overall credit growth surged in January, before the extended Lunar New Year holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak curtailed economic activity across much of the country. Aggregate financing increased 5.07 trillion yuan ($723 billion) last month, the highest since the current data series started in 2017. The median estimate was 4.2 trillion yuan. The stock of outstanding aggregate ...

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