Xiang Junbo, the man on whose watch China’s insurance industry flourished, is now himself under investigation. As Bloomberg News reported over the weekend, China’s anti-graft agency is probing the nation’s top insurance official as the government steps up a bid to rein in financial risks. But with so many firms still hungry for returns and diversification, that shouldn’t slow ...

  The race is on. As Britain and the European Union begin to negotiate the terms of Brexit, Europe’s financial centers are jostling to lure banks, insurers and asset managers away from the City of London. When providers of goods and services compete for business it’s almost always good for their customers, and this new post-Brexit rivalry needn’t be any ...

  Is China finally making headway in its battle against currency outflows? On the surface, yes: People’s Bank of China foreign exchange reserves are effectively unchanged since December at $3 trillion, and data for February released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed a significant narrowing of net outflows of capital based on international bank settlements and sales. That’s ...

  With a bankruptcy filing looming, the Westinghouse Electric Co. nuclear business delivered one last stinging blow to Japanese parent Toshiba Corp.’s balance sheet in February: a 712.5 billion yen ($6.4 billion) goodwill writedown. But Toshiba probably won’t be the last big company to rue overpaying for assets. The global M&A boom has left a giant footprint on corporate balance ...

  The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into effect on May 25, 2018, meaning Middle East organizations that handle the personal data of EU residents will have to be compliant. IT teams in the region have more than a year to audit their systems, check existing customer data, and ensure that processes are in ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The Philippines’ leading carrier, Cebu Pacific Air posted a net income of PHP9.8 billion in 2016, up 122% year-on-year, on the back of the strong demand for low-cost air travel and robust growth in ancillary revenues, which include baggage fees, on-board meals and merchandise. Total revenues, which include CEB cargo services and wholly-owned subsidiary Cebgo, ...

  AP Images of a bloodied man being forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight in Chicago drew widespread condemnation in China, where state media fueled the public’s anger with reports that noted the unidentified victim was an “Asian passenger.” Video of the violent incident posted on China’s popular Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo had been viewed more than 210 million ...

  Bloomberg Starbucks Corp. will provide Chinese workers with health insurance that extends coverage to their parents, a unique offering by the coffeehouse chain that may be used by more than 10,000 people to treat cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. The plan is a response to traditional values in China, the company said, as children often care for their parents ...

  Bloomberg JD Sports Fashion Plc shares soared to new highs after the U.K. sportswear retailer extended its record of confounding analysts’ expectations, helped by flourishing partnerships with suppliers including Nike Inc. and Adidas AG. The stock rose as much as 10 percent in London after the company reported an 81 percent jump in annual pretax profit to 244.8 million ...

  AWEIL / AP Two months after the world’s youngest nation declared a famine amid its civil war, hunger has become more widespread than expected, aid workers say. South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal region is on the brink of starvation, with 290,000 people at risk of dying without sustained food assistance. Humanitarian workers say conditions will only deteriorate as the ...