Bloomberg Attorney General William Barr acknowledged for the first time on Monday that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has been giving the Justice Department (DOJ) information he collected in Ukraine, bringing what was a stealth campaign into official government channels. Barr said, however, that information coming from Ukraine must be carefully vetted to ensure it is accurate and ...

Bloomberg Just as it looked like Beijing was starting to get a handle on its regional banking crisis, a much more severe threat is engulfing the world’s largest banking system as a deadly new virus hits the country’s economy. The impact of the spreading coronavirus risks bringing to life the worst-case economic scenarios contained in China’s annual banking stress tests. ...

Bloomberg A survey of HSBC Holdings Plc’s 237,000 staff has highlighted falling morale as employees brace themselves for job cuts in a strategy review due later this month. At HSBC’s European arm, confidence in the direction of the bank dropped 21 points in the second half of 2019 compared to the first half, according to an internal document seen by ...

Bloomberg Consolidation in Italy’s banking industry will probably be postponed — again. Potential tie-ups were high on the agenda of the bankers who gathered in the northern town of Brescia for the Assiom Forex conference, but no one seemed ready to take the first step. The current regulatory framework and Italy’s poor economic prospects will probably delay deals that analysts ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG and SSG Capital Management have made a joint bid for an Indian power producer’s debt of 60 billion rupees ($842 million), according to a person familiar with the matter. The consortium has submitted a binding bid of about 31 billion rupees for the delinquent debt of Chennai-based Coastal Energen Pvt, the person said, asking not to ...

Bloomberg Denmark and Switzerland have long shared the world record in negative interest rates, at minus 0.75%. But that may be about to change. Economists at some of the biggest Nordic banks say Denmark, which pegs the krone to the euro, is likely to raise its key rate in the coming months. Not long ago, they thought a cut was ...

Bloomberg Irish stocks slid on Monday after polls put Sinn Fein in place for a possible role in government, fuelling declines in banks and property shares given that the party’s policies include a wealth tax and a freeze on residential rents. The benchmark ISEQ Index slid as much as 1.4%, with Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc ...

Bloomberg The double-whammy to palm oil demand from a trade spat with India and the coronavirus in China is likely to prove only temporary, according to FGV Holdings Bhd, one of the world’s largest producers. That’s because supplies are low this quarter, and food and fuel demand is set to stay robust over the long term, according to Chief Executive ...

Bloomberg China’s consumer prices rose the fastest in more than eight years last month, with the outbreak of the coronavirus and subsequent shutdowns of transport links across the country making further gains in the coming months likely. Consumer prices rose 5.4%, with food prices jumping the most since 2008 in January. Even before the coronavirus, prices were likely to have ...

Bloomberg A shortage of face masks has prompted Chinese companies from car manufacturers to energy providers to start making their own to help fight the coronavirus. Auto companies including BYD Co have reconfigured production lines to churn out masks that can help block particles and germs, with petroleum giant Sinopec and iPhone assembler Foxconn joining the fray. Some are also ...