Mark Zuckerberg did just fine in his first turn in the Congressional hot seat. He was confident. He capably tackled many of the queries proposed last week by Bloomberg columnists. The 33-year-old billionaire appeared humble throughout much of the hearing, with only a few smug smiles. The best news for Facebook Inc. the company was that Zuckerberg ably deflected any ...

NEW YORK / Reuters Quirks in the new US tax code are sowing doubts over how much big banks can boost dividends and stock buybacks this year, threatening to take the shine off what are likely to be strong quarterly profits. Changes in how companies can measure and apply past losses to tax bills, coupled with more extreme scenarios in ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi is finding the euro area’s eastern flank to be an unwelcome distraction. The European Central Bank president is likely to find the Governing Council missing both its Latvian and Slovenian representatives this summer, with the former barred because of a bribery investigation and the latter opting to leave his job. The ECB is questioning Latvia’s restrictions on ...

Bloomberg A new type of bank bond is coming to China, albeit slowly. Chinese regulators in March released preliminary guidelines encouraging mainland banks to consider selling securities that can take in large losses in the event of a crisis. Bond watchers have taken that as a sign that total-loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) issuance may make its debut in China, following ...

Bloomberg Poland’s monetary tightening, already postponed for a second year, is no longer inevitable. Instead of a widely anticipated pickup in inflation, two months of below-forecast readings are a vindication of the central bank’s reluctance to tinker with borrowing costs in what’s already its longest-ever period of stable interest rates. The 10-member Monetary Policy Council will keep its benchmark at ...

LONDON / Reuters Major global central banks are ramping up purchases of euro zone government bonds, banking sources say, enticed by rising yields, a buoyant single currency and an uncertain outlook for US debt and the dollar. Data shows central banks bought significant chunks of debt issued by Belgium, France and state-backed German development bank KfW in bond syndications last ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc, Air France-KLM Group and Cerberus Capital Management have made a joint approach to the Italian airline Alitalia SpA about a possible takeover, said a person familiar with the matter, betting the unprofitable carrier will provide a gateway to expansion in the Mediterranean market. EasyJet, Europe’s second-biggest low-cost airline, said it has submitted a “revised expression of interest ...

LONDON / Reuters Airbus wants Britain to provide more clarity over the country’s future relationship with the EU, or risk losing investment, the European planemaker’s CEO said. “We must have more clarity on the UK’s long-term relationships, not just for the next 20 months,” CEO Tom Enders said in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. “Britain must recognise that ...

Bloomberg Canada’s biggest printer says its latest deal opens the door to making Amazon.com Inc. a customer as the online retail giant tries to break into the fresh-food delivery business. Transcontinental Inc.’s proposed $1.32 billion purchase of Coveris Americas will bring on board several food suppliers that rely on Coveris for packaging, Chief Executive Officer Francois Olivier said. Several of ...

Bloomberg Eurocontrol, an air traffic agency in Europe, asked airlines to apply caution on flights to the eastern Mediterranean region because of possible air strikes in Syria over the next 72 hours. “Due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the agency said in a statement posted on its website citing the European Aviation ...