It seems that barely a week goes by these days without a titan of Japan Inc. falling on hard times. Shareholders are gripped by a sense of dread that the great corporate leaders that helped build the world’s third-largest economy are losing their grip. The fear is spreading to even the best-run companies. While those emotions are understandable, investors would ...

The unexpectedly large fine the European Commission has slapped on Google—€2.4 billion—is evidence that the search giant’s relationship with European regulators is now a vicious circle of escalation. Google’s reluctance to give up any revenue from its fastest-growing ad format may lead to significant, unpredictable losses in its biggest market outside the US. The case in which competition commissioner Margrethe ...

DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock slumped on Sunday as a deadline for Doha to accept a series of political demands by four Arab states was expected to expire late in the day with no sign of the crisis ending while Saudi Arabia’s rally extended for a third session. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said at the weekend ...

Bloomberg Unicaja Banco SA raised about 688 million euros ($783 million) in an initial public offering that turned into a test of confidence in Spanish banks after this month’s demise of a larger lender. Unicaja, based in the southern city of Malaga, priced the sale of 40.3 percent of its equity at 1.10 euros per share, the low end of ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc became the first foreign bank to win permission for a majority-owned securities joint venture in China, a structure some of its competitors have unsuccessfully lobbied to secure for several years. The London-based firm received approval to invest 918 million yuan ($135 million) for 51 percent of a venture with Qianhai Financial Holdings Co., the China Securities ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG, which helped arrange the majority of the $2 billion in Mozambique state-backed loans that plunged the country’s economy into crisis, disputed that it received more than $160 million in fees for arranging the financing. The bank was responding to Kroll LLC’s audit report into the loans that said it and Russia’s VTB Bank PJSC were ...

Bloomberg The Dutch state will sell an additional 7 percent of ABN Amro Group NV, a stake worth about $1.7 billion at current prices, taking advantage of steady demand for European bank stocks as it progresses toward full privatization. About 65 million shares will be sold in an accelerated bookbuild, bringing the government’s controlling stake down to 63 percent, NLFI, ...

Bloomberg Another month of inflation data, and Mario Draghi still doesn’t have a definitive sign that the European Central Bank can consider ending its monetary stimulus. Consumer-price growth weakened in June even as the core rate picked up, backing the ECB president’s call for persistence with loose policy and prudence in signaling its withdrawal. At the same time, the figures ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business An Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down in Beijing on Sunday after its inaugural flight from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Flight EY888 departed Abu Dhabi at 09:30pm local time on Saturday and arrived in Beijing at 08:50am on Sunday. To celebrate the milestone event, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held ...

Bloomberg India’s plan to sell a stake in the national carrier just got a fillip a day after the government decided to sell Air India Ltd., with the nation’s biggest airline expressing an interest to buy the state airline. IndiGo is keen to buy the flag carrier, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in comments relayed by an aide. ...