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Tokyo / Reuters Japan’s biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), is on the lookout for acquisition opportunities in the US and Indonesia as it pursues its goal of becoming a global financial powerhouse, the head of its core unit said. “As a global commercial bank, the US and Asia are our base,” said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) president ...

Bloomberg More bankers working at foreign firms in Japan expect their salaries will increase this year, despite their outlook for a weakening economy, volatile financial markets and a stronger yen, according to a survey by Morgan McKinley. About 58 percent of respondents received an indication from their employers that their base salary will rise in 2016, compared with 42 percent ...

Bloomberg For Europe’s banks, rising capital requirements represent a huge cost. But for one Swedish firm, the post-crisis world order is proving a goldmine. Hoist Finance, which helps international banks restructure debt by acquiring or managing non-performing unsecured consumer loans, anticipates stricter capital demands will force more banks to shed their problem loans in an effort to remove the costliest ...

Oslo / Reuters Norway’s biggest bank DNB must provide a written explanation of its policy of helping clients set up offshore companies in the Seychelles, the Norwegian industry minister said in a statement on Monday. “DNB says this should not have happened and that the bank should not have participated. That I agree to,” Trade and Industry Minister Monica Maeland ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is taking an unprecedented hands-on role in housing finance and development as it seeks to re-energize a plan to build more than a million homes and make ownership more affordable. The Housing Ministry plans to create its own development company and start a mortgage-guarantee fund to encourage banks to increase lending, Minister Majed al-Hogail said in an ...

Bloomberg Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. is joining U.K. developer Delancey Real Estate Asset Management Ltd. and Dutch pension fund APG Asset Management NV to create a $2 billion home-rental business in London, with properties in the former Olympic athletes’ village and the Elephant & Castle district. The venture, which is subject to regulatory approval, will manage 4,000 homes, ...

Bloomberg The battle for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. may be over, but the company’s chief executive officer says it’s just the beginning for lodging-industry mergers. “Clearly the Marriott-Starwood transaction has created a lot of chatter about further consolidation,” Starwood CEO Tom Mangas said on a conference call with analysts in which he and Marriott International Inc. CEO Arne ...

Bloomberg U.K. house prices increased for a ninth month in March as rental investors rushed to purchase property before a tax increase, Nationwide Building Society said. The average price of a home rose 0.8 percent from February to 200,251 pounds ($287,280), the lender said in a statement on Monday. The annual rate of growth surged to 5.7 percent, the strongest ...

Bloomberg The average price of a Manhattan apartment topped $2 million for the first time, reflecting the closing of deals from a high-end buying frenzy that’s now showing signs of a slowdown. Buyers in the first quarter took ownership of condominiums in some of New York’s most-expensive developments after signing contracts as far back as three years ago, when construction ...

Bloomberg The true strength of the American labour market may be disguised. Wage growth — described as slow and unconvincing by Federal Reserve officials plotting their path to higher interest rates — is more robust by some measures than commonly acknowledged due to changes in the composition of the workforce. With unemployment close to the lowest in eight years, accelerating ...