Bloomberg Hong Kong’s securities regulator is investigating whether realtors selling overseas properties are illegally marketing investment plans, according to a lawmaker helping investors who lost money on such deals. Buyers argued that developments promoting guaranteed rental income are so-called collective investment schemes, which need approval from the Securities and Futures Commission, said James To Kun-sun, a member of the ...

  Bloomberg Anil Agarwal, an Indian mining billionaire, plans to buy as much as 2 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) of Anglo American Plc shares in the market after a merger proposal failed last year. The full stake would equate to about 13 percent of Anglo’s stock, making Agarwal the second-largest shareholder after South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. It will give ...

  AP As spring crocus blooms approach, some growers have visions of a fall-flowering crocus that produces saffron, the world’s most valuable spice. University of Vermont researchers have been raising the exotic spice now grown primarily in Iran and are encouraging growers to tap into what they hope will be a cash crop. It’s not a hard sell, particularly in ...

  Bloomberg Governments need to do more to create growth that benefits everyone, and the US should spend more on roads, highways, bridges and airports, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. The body, which includes the world’s better-off countries, said in a report that governments should focus on providing better access to high-quality education and supporting employment for ...

  Bloomberg Ezra Holdings Ltd., a Singapore-listed oilfield services group, filed for bankruptcy in the US after weeks of facing hostile actions from creditors at home and abroad as it struggles to recover from a slump in oil prices over the past three years. The company filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, according ...

  Bloomberg A European Central Bank inspection of Deutsche Bank AG’s risk controls found deficiencies in derivatives and complicated financial bets that raise questions about pricing processes at the German lender, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. The review, which started a few months ago and recently ended, found that the bank’s risk management systems were not sufficiently integrated or strong ...

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG is ‘very pessimistic’ about reaching an agreement with French authorities to settle a case of alleged tax fraud that forced the bank to post a 1.1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) bond to cover any potential penalties three years ago, Journal du Dimanche reported. France’s financial prosecutor is seeking a 1.1 billion-euro fine from UBS to settle ...

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acquired online apparel seller ModCloth Inc. in an all-cash deal, part of an effort to expand its online operations and appeal to customers that may have avoided the retailer in the past. ModCloth will continue to operate as a stand-alone site, as well as work with Wal-Mart’s other operations, the retail giant said. ModCloth Chief ...

  Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc is nearing an initial agreement to merge its Indian operations with Idea Cellular Ltd. in a deal that would create the largest telecom company in one of the world’s most competitive markets, people with knowledge of the matter said. The two firms plan to announce a preliminary agreement as soon as this month, according to ...

  Bloomberg Pakistan barred the first foreign national chief executive of the state-owned national airline from leaving the country as the government begins an investigation into a plane-lease contract. Bernd Hildenbrand, the German head of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Corp., has been put on a so-called exit control list and the nation’s anti-graft Federal Investigation Agency has been directed to ...