March, 2021

• 30 March

  Carrefour to buy Walmart’s former business in Brazil

  

  Bloomberg Carrefour SA is buying Walmart Inc.’s former Brazil unit to cement its position as the country’s largest supermarket operator two months after being the target of a failed takeover bid. Advent International and Walmart agreed to sell Grupo BIG Brasil SA for about $1.3 billion, Carrefour said. Brazil is already the French retailer’s second-largest market, and the deal would …

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• 30 March

  French government, EU close in on rescue plan for Air France

  

  Bloomberg French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the government and the European Commission are nearing a deal for the recapitalisation of Air France that could be finalised in the coming days. “The negotiation was long and difficult and isn’t entirely finished,” Le Maire said on Monday on France Info radio. The accord will be fair and protective for Air …

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• 30 March

  UK retail sales rise 2.1% in February

  

  Bloomberg UK retail sales posted a modest rebound in February after a brutal start to the year, when a lockdown to contain coronavirus forced non-essential stores to close. The volume of goods sold in shops and online rise 2.1% from January, the Office for National Statistics said, in line with economists’ expectations. Sales excluding auto fuel climbed 2.4%. The pickup …

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• 30 March

  American, United Airlines extend deadlines on unused flight credits

  

  Bloomberg Unused airline tickets are getting extra shelf life as the steep drop in travel demand extends into a second year due to the coronavirus (Covid-19). Fewer flight credits are on the verge of lapsing after United Airlines Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. extended expiration dates into 2022, following similar moves earlier in the crisis by rivals. About …

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• 30 March

  Ryanair chief touts robust outlook despite setbacks

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is preparing for a rapid return to air travel in Europe this summer, even as rising coronavirus cases and a flawed vaccine rollout threaten to slow the rebound. Europe’s largest discount carrier expects to be flying at about 50% of its pre-pandemic capacity at the start of summer, with the figure reaching 80% in the July-September …

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• 30 March

  BOE flagging risk of illiquidity in government bond markets

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) flagged instances of illiquidity as a broader risk to the financial system after a rout in some government bond markets pushed yields higher. The comments in a routine assessment of threats to the financial system indicate concerns at the central bank that Governor Andrew Bailey has sought to play down. The bank’s Financial Policy …

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• 30 March

  Philippine central banker targets street stalls in e-money push

  

  Bloomberg Philippine central bank Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan has long wanted to make electronic money so ubiquitous that one could pay at a street stall via mobile phone. Now he’s leading the bank’s digital drive. “This is my life’s purpose,” Tangonan said in a March 24 interview, his first since he took office in February. Tangonan, 58, is point man …

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• 30 March

  Mexico central bank to stay data-dependent

  

  Bloomberg Mexico’s central bank will continue taking a data-dependent approach to monetary policy going forward, central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said in an interview, after the board decided to keep borrowing costs at their lowest in almost five years. The bank’s decision to hold its benchmark interest rate at 4% amid an inflation spike prompted some analysts, including …

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• 30 March

  RBNZ orders Westpac to hold more liquid assets after breach

  

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank is requiring Westpac Banking Corp.’s local unit to hold more liquid assets while it sorts out problems with risk governance processes. Westpac NZ was found to be in breach of the requirements of the Reserve Bank’s liquidity policy over a period from 2012 to 2020, the RBNZ said in a statement in Wellington. It has …

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• 30 March

  Commerzbank names Helmut Gottschalk as new chairman

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG nominated Helmut Gottschalk, formerly at DZ Bank AG, to head its supervisory board in an attempt to put a quick end to a leadership crisis that threatens to derail bank’s reorganisation. Gottschalk was proposed as a new member of the board, which intends to elect him chairman immediately after his appointment by the annual general meeting, the …

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