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  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it favors a complete ban on cryptocurrencies at a meeting of its central board, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the deliberations. India’s central bank made a detailed presentation to its board highlighting “serious concerns” around the impact of cryptocurrencies on macroeconomic and financial stability, as well as …

  Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA plans to raise 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to cover capital needs after the Italian government’s efforts to sell the lender to UniCredit SpA failed. The capital increase is part of a five-year business plan that will be submitted to European authorities for approval, it said in a statement. The fresh …

  Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia is delaying plans to bring more employees back to its headquarters in January as Covid-19 cases rise rapidly in the province of Ontario. Canada’s third-largest bank had planned to start a phased return-to-office plan for head-office employees who are still working remotely on January 17, but that’s now on hold, spokesperson Clancy Zeifman said …

  Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised borrowing costs for the third straight meeting as inflation accelerates amid forecasts for the biggest economic expansion in at least a century. The bank lifted its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 3% in a split decision, Governor Leonardo Villar told reporters, adding that three of the seven board members voted …

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) ended the second year of the pandemic in a very different place to other major central banks. While the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England this week took aggressive steps to pull back from crisis aid, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his board slow walked it, extending assistance to struggling smaller businesses for …

  Bloomberg A tumultuous year for Chinese markets looks to be finally weighing on demand for new stock funds. While equity funds have raised 2 trillion yuan ($314 billion) this year — matching 2020’s record — fundraising this quarter is poised to be the slowest in two years, according to data from consultancy Z-Ben Advisors Ltd. Launches have slowed through …

  Bloomberg Producers of battery metals and specialist chemicals for electric cars are outpacing sector leaders like Tesla Inc in the stock market as prices of key commodities climb due to tight supply and wider adoption of zero-emission vehicles. Pilbara Minerals Ltd, a Perth-based supplier of lithium raw materials, jumped more than 210% this year, while Ecopro BM Co and …

  Bloomberg Oil posted a weekly decline after a volatile few days that saw traders grow more concerned about the demand impact from the omicron variant and tighter monetary policy. Futures in New York fell as much as 3.4% to briefly trade below $70 a barrel. It ended the week losing over 1% as daily Covid-19 cases in the UK …

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding has unveiled ambitious objectives for its Southeast Asian arm Lazada, accelerating an overseas expansion to offset Chinese economic and regulatory headwinds. The Chinese e-commerce leader is targeting a long-term goal of quintupling gross merchandise value, the sum of transactions across Lazada’s platforms, to $100 billion, Alibaba outlined in a presentation to investors. It wants Lazada …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s succession options for Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr appear less clear after WestJet Airlines Ltd poached one of the German group’s rising-star managers. Alexis von Hoensbroech quit as chief of the Austrian Airlines division to join the Canadian carrier, he said on his LinkedIn page. Lufthansa said earlier that he had chosen to depart and …