May, 2018

• 16 May

  HSBC to cement lead in Saudi with $5 billion bank merger

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is set to reaffirm its position in Saudi Arabia with the takeover of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s local venture as lenders bet on the kingdom’s ambitious plans to transform its economy. In the country’s first bank merger in almost 20 years, HSBC affiliate Saudi British Bank offered to take over RBS-backed Alawwal Bank in ...

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• 16 May

  Goldman Sachs, Aberdeen picking up bargains from emerging markets selloff

  

  Bloomberg A stronger dollar, rising US yields and geopolitical tensions have sent plenty of investors bolting from emerging markets. Then there’s Aberdeen Standard Investments and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Aberdeen Standard Investments, which oversees about $770 billion, took advantage of the recent selloff to increase its holding in the Russian ruble, South African rand and Indonesian rupiah. Goldman Sachs Group ...

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• 16 May

  Poland looks to extend longest fiscal policy pause

  

  Bloomberg Poland’s lack of urgency to raise interest rates is becoming less out of step with global central banks as plans to tighten monetary policy get sidetracked around the world. Maintaining the rate differential with major economies won’t be a challenge any time soon for Governor Adam Glapinski as he looks to extend Poland’s longest-ever policy pause at least through ...

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• 16 May

  Riksbank’s Skingsley says rate path open for October increase

  Bloomberg A Swedish interest rate increase as early as October is in line with the policy path laid out by the central bank, Riksbank Deputy Governor Cecilia Skingsley said. Policy makers last month again pushed back a plan to raise rates for the first time in seven years, saying they didn’t see a tightening until towards the end of the ...

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• 16 May

  Thailand doesn’t feel pressure to join global tightening

  

  Bloomberg Thailand’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged near a record low, and said it doesn’t feel pressure to join a global wave of tightening that’s swept along some peers in Southeast Asia. Monetary policy committee members voted unanimously to hold the one-day bond repurchase rate at 1.5 percent, where it’s been since 2015, according to a Bank ...

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• 16 May

  UBS head of European M&A Brizay joins BofA

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Severin Brizay, is planning to leave to join Bank of America Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. Brizay will become head of consumer and retail investment banking for EMEA at the US lender, the people said, asking not to be identified as ...

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• 16 May

  Boeing trade-case win prompts new Trump threat of EU sanctions

  

  Bloomberg The US threatened to impose sanctions against the European Union after the World Trade Organization ruled that Airbus SE received illegal government funding to develop jetliners, costing Boeing Co. sales. The final decision affirmed a 2016 finding that the EU had failed to eliminate unfair subsidies for two Airbus twin-aisle models, ending a long-running trade case. The international court ...

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• 16 May

  Customers persuade Walmart to shelve self-scanning service

  

  Bloomberg Walmart Inc. has ended a service where customers could ring up their own purchases, showing that old habits die hard even in the digital age. The retailer had offered its so-called “Mobile Scan & Go” technology in about 150 Walmart stores, after a successful rollout across its Sam’s Club warehouse chain. But while the service worked in Sam’s — ...

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• 16 May

  EasyJet CEO puts stamp on airline, but rules out Norwegian bid

  

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said it wants to expand its holiday-tour unit and attract more business travelers as new Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren moves the airline beyond an increasingly competitive discount market. Lundgren named five top managers, led by the appointment of Garry Wilson from TUI AG to head the holiday arm, which will become a focus for investment along ...

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• 16 May

  Cheapest airfare to New York from Delhi is via Iceland

  

  Bloomberg For millions of Indians flying West every year, there’s a new airline in town. And, it’s ultra-cheap. Iceland’s trans-Atlantic carrier Wow Air Ehf, which offers low-cost flights via its hub in Reykjavik, is entering India with tickets to the US at $199 starting from December 7. That would be the first no-frills option to passengers travelling from the South ...

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