Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised no one when he led his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to victory in the Upper House elections on July 10. His party won 56 seats, and together with the Sokka Gakai-backed Komeito party, which won 14 seats, the Osaka Ishin no Kai, which won seven seats, and the Party for Japanese Kokoro, which did …

  While some have been shocked by the result of the British referendum to decide whether the state either remains or leaves the European Union, all can agree that what has been even more surprising and discomforting have been both the open displays of xenophobia and the spike in hate crimes against migrants and minorities. The Leave campaign leading to …

  Bloomberg Bank of England financial-stability officials discussed the risk that freeing UK banks to lend more may prompt them to reward investors instead. In the record of meetings held in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, the Financial Policy Committee — lead by Governor Mark Carney — said the stability-risk outlook had “materially changed” and …

  Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is selling as much as a 10 percent stake in online bank FinecoBank SpA and launching a review of its strategy as incoming Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier seeks to boost capital. The bank will take “a more proactive approach” to its non-core loans, and the review will focus on further cost cuts and improving …

  Bloomberg DNB ASA’s shares slumped after Norway’s largest bank missed profit estimates amid a jump in loan losses. Net income for the three months ended June 30 declined 10 percent to 4.45 billion kroner (US$525 million), missing the 4.85 billion-krone estimate in an analyst survey. Loan losses more than tripled to 2.32 billion kroner. Low interest rates drove net …

  BLOOMBERG The International Monetary Fund called for action over concerns relating to the bail-in of retail investors in Italy, noting that “very high” amounts of non-performing loans and slow judicial processes were straining bank balance sheets. Financial industry reforms “are critical to entrench financial stability and support the recovery,” the IMF said in a statement following its regular review …

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc started its first brokerage business in Japan with 100 employees as institutional investors in the country seek products from emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa for better returns. The UK bank will deploy 20 salesmen to meet with Japanese life insurers, brokerages, banks and asset managers to sell products that invest in …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The General Index for Consumer Confidence in Abu Dhabi’s economic performance during Q1 of 2016 recorded about 115 points on average, reflecting continuous optimism among the consumers of different demographic and social segments towards the economic conditions in Abu Dhabi. This further reflects consumers’ confidence in Abu Dhabi’s economic capabilities to accommodate the current economic challenges …

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, was honoured with the prestigious Excellence in Practice Citation Award by the Association for Talent Development (ATD). The bank won in the Organisational Learning & Development and Learning Technologies categories for its ‘CX Learning Initiative’ that aims at inculcating the customer-centric philosophy of …

  Dubai / WAM The Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker said that business conditions strengthened in June amid the fastest rise in new work since March 2015. June data pointed to a sustained recovery in growth momentum across the Dubai private sector, led by improving business conditions in the travel and tourism and wholesale and retail sectors. At 54.6, up slightly …