The current European Commission could go out with a bang if it moves ahead with a plan to grab more tax-setting authority from EU member states. We could find out next week whether multinational companies using various tax-avoidance strategies in Europe will have more to fear than they do with the current periodic harassment disguised as enforcement of the EU’s ...

Bloomberg US stocks declined as weak Chinese trade data spurred concerns about slowing global growth. Treasuries rose and the dollar edged lower. The S&P 500 fell after rising for a third straight week, led by technology shares after slumping Chinese exports fuelled concerns about the growing impact of the US-China trade war on global growth. PG&E plunged after the utility ...

Bloomberg The pound’s most accurate forecaster isn’t buying into the optimism of his peers. Sterling will slide more than 3 percent to $1.24 by the end of March as even the most favourable Brexit outcome will mean the economy will be worse off than if “remain” had won the 2016 referendum, according to Westpac Banking Corp. The median estimate in ...

Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S’s money-laundering scandal threatens to undermine its growth engine. The lender’s Nordic banking operation, which encom- passes Norway, Sweden and Finland, was the only core unit of five to report higher profit in the third quarter. But now, some customers in the biggest Nordic economy may be reconsidering their loyalty to the bank, according to Berit Behring, ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s ruling African National Congress said the reserve bank must consider the impact of monetary policy on economic growth when it targets inflation, re-emphasising the flexible mandate the government gave the central bank almost a decade ago. “The ANC believes that the South African Reserve Bank must pursue a flexible monetary policy regime, aligned with the objectives of ...

Bloomberg China’s banks’ urgent want for cash is threatening to overload the country’s fledgling convertible-bond market. Four lenders are due to sell as much as 146 billion yuan ($22 billion) of the hybrid securities by the end of June after the regulator approved the deals in recent weeks. That includes what could be the largest such offering China’s domestic market ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India needs to soften its economic growth narrative and lower its projections for the current fiscal year. That’s the view of Mumbai-based SBICap Securities Ltd after data released January 11 showed industrial production in November grew 0.5 percent from a year ago, much lower than the expected 3.6 percent. The RBI needs to cut its ...

Bloomberg UBS Global Wealth Management predicts the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates twice this year despite markets pricing in little chance of that happening. An expanding US economy and low recession risk may provide opportunities for the Fed to keep ratcheting up borrowing costs, said Min Lan Tan, head of the chief investment officer for Asia Pacific in Singapore. ...

Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA dropped in Milan trading after the European Central Bank highlighted weaknesses in the Italian lender’s capital and profitability. The ECB told the bank that its inability to issue the second tranche of a junior bond issue last year hurt its capital position, Monte Paschi said in a statement. The Italian bank plans ...

Bloomberg Luxury cosmetics firm L’Occitane International SA agreed to buy beauty and skincare brand Elemis for about $900 million, its biggest deal on record as the maker of organic lotions looks to expand in the US and UK. The Hong Kong-listed L’Occitane agreed to buy the privately-held Elemis from Steiner Leisure Limited, according to a statement from the companies. Steiner ...