Bloomberg Avianca Holdings SA’s chairman and controlling shareholder, German Efromovich, is forcing the Colombian airline into a potential deal with United Continental Holdings Inc. that will hurt minority investors, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. Kingsland Holdings, the second-biggest shareholder in Avianca, is suing the Bogota-based air carrier, Efromovich and Chicago-based United, saying they …

  Bloomberg A study of Kenya’s telecommunications industry proposes breaking up Safaricom Ltd., the country’s biggest company, according to brokerage AIB Capital Ltd. The report compiled by Analysis Mason proposes “a raft of measures supposed to level the telecommunications playing ground and tame Safaricom,” AIB Chairman Linus Gitahi said in an opinion article published Wednesday in the Nairobi-based Daily Nation …

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. is in advanced discussions for a banking license in Saudi Arabia, returning after a more than 10-year absence from the kingdom, as the bank looks for ways to capitalize on financial reforms, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based bank has started sounding out potential staff in expectation that the license application will …

  Reuters Annual growth in Saudi Arabian bank lending slowed in January to its lowest level in nearly seven years, official data showed, a sign of weak corporate demand but also improving liquidity in the economy. Bank loans to the private sector rose just 1.8 percent from a year earlier, compared to 2.4 percent in December, the central bank said. …

  Bloomberg India’s weaker economic growth will lead to more soured loans, even after an audit of lenders’ books pushed stressed assets in the South Asian nation to the highest among major economies, according to the head of the country’s largest bank. “There could be a few more accounts that could start showing stress mainly because the kind of growth …

  Bloomberg The UK’s 50 pound-note is here to stay, at least for now, according to the Bank of England official who signs the nation’s bills. Chief Cashier Victoria Cleland said in an interview that the BOE has no plans to scrap the bill — its largest — and hasn’t ruled out eventually replacing the current paper note with a …

  Bloomberg Canada’s financial industry is urging the federal government to consider alternatives to proposals that could require them to take on a greater share of mortgage defaults through a deductible — calling it one of the biggest shakeups to hit housing finance in 50 years. “This submission has questioned whether a deductible is the most effective way to rebalance …

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) trimmed purchases of shorter-maturity debt in its first bond-buying operation in March, taking advantage of a drop in yields. The central bank offered to buy 320 billion yen ($2.8 billion) of debt due in one-to-three years on Wednesday, down from 400 billion yen for the same maturities in its previous operation on Feb. …

  Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. is sending letters soliciting offers for its memory chip business this week and seeking bids that value it at about 1.5 trillion yen ($13 billion), according to people familiar with the matter. The Japanese conglomerate is offering a majority stake in the chip unit and would be willing to sell the entire business, said the people, …

  Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge firmed in February as producer prices rebounded, giving top officials gathering in Beijing a solid economic backdrop as they seek to rein in financial risk. Manufacturing purchasing managers index climbed to 51.6 in February, compared with a median estimate of 51.2 in a Bloomberg survey of economists and 51.3 in January. Non-manufacturing PMI stood …