Old-school retailers were doing the press-release version of a touchdown dance last week after the Supreme Court ruled that state governments can require internet retailers to collect sales taxes even if they don’t have a physical presence in that state. Matthew Shay, the CEO of the National Retail Federation, said in a statement that retailers “have been waiting for this ...

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have finally laid out their joint vision for the future of the European monetary union. Unfortunately, their Meseberg Declaration looks like a missed opportunity: It is ambitious where it can afford to be vague and modest where it needs to be concrete. The Franco-German plan will be the foundation for next week’s crucial European Council. ...

The history of the financial crisis tells a disturbing tale for those who hold dear prosperity and democracy. Although this should have been the moment for representative governments to rise to the occasion, too often political leaders failed to take the actions needed to preserve the welfare of those who elected them. The institutions that did the most to help ...

In the Trump era, bankers and regulators were supposed to get along just dandy. In the wake of this year’s stress test, there is some hope that might not be the case. Last week, after the release of the first stage of the annual bank stress test, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. put out a statement indicating that it was unhappy ...

What is the appropriate response to the threat of climate change? To some climate activists, it means we must give up on economic growth, capitalism or even industrial society itself. This extreme viewpoint, if correct, would require modern humanity to abandon much of what makes life comfortable,secure. It also causes many on the political right to suspect climate activism of ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are imploring investors not to get spooked. The investment banks had the two lowest capital levels by one key measure in stress test results released by the Federal Reserve, threatening to limit how much cash they’ll be able to return to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. But both firms say they ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to sell its stake in Saudi Investment Bank back to the Riyadh-based lender at a 24 percent discount as it exits non-core holdings globally. Saudi Investment Bank signed an agreement to buy the 7.5 percent stake, which JPMorgan held for more than 40 years, for $203 million, according to a statement on Sunday. The ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank is expecting to plow at least 160 billion euros ($185 billion) of maturing debt back into bonds next year and could consider relaxing the rules on buying, according to euro-area officials familiar with the matter. Such prospects would reduce the risk of market volatility that could undermine the economy after the ECB completes net asset ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank will cut the amount of cash some lenders must hold as reserves, unlocking about 700 billion yuan ($108 billion) of liquidity, as it seeks to control leverage and support smaller companies. The required reserve ratio for some banks will drop by 0.5 percentage point, effective July 5, the People’s Bank of China said on its website. ...

Bloomberg Bank of Montreal is revamping its US digital operation and targeting small businesses in the Midwest to boost growth at its BMO Harris Bank lender. The new US strategy, which emphasises mobile apps to woo more retail customers, is part of the changes being introduced by Erminia “Ernie” Johannson, who relocated to Chicago from Toronto after being appointed group ...