Saturday , 7 February 2026

UK banks denied Covid loans to 150,000 firms

Bloomberg British banks turned down more than 150,000 applications for government-guaranteed business loans during Covid-19 outbreak in an effort to prevent fraud, according to industry watchdog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told lenders not to relax their checks on potential borrowers when they offered credit under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan and Bounce Back Loan programs, according to CEO Nikhil …

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Citi, Barclays push back against reflation doom, gloom

Bloomberg Two days after fading odds of a Blue Wave Congress appeared to kill off the reflation trade, Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc see signs of life. While the likely failure of the Democratic Party to take over the Senate means any fiscal splurge will probably be smaller, the prospect of increased Federal Reserve stimulus enhances the appeal of inflation-linked …

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Wells Fargo to freeze raises for high earners

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. plans to freeze raises for top earners as the bank’s new leadership team retools compensation practices with a close eye on costs, according to people briefed on the plans. The measure, revealed to some managers on a conference call, will halt increases in base pay in the coming year for employees making more than $150,000, …

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Berkshire buys back $9bn more of stock in record year

Bloomberg Warren Buffett has gone from a stock-buyback skeptic to one of the world’s biggest repurchasers as his own firm becomes his favourite investment in the pandemic. The famed investor’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent the third quarter buying back about $9 billion of its own stock, more than it had repurchased in any full year in its history. The buying …

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Stocks show Jerome Powell is still Wall Street’s head of state

Bloomberg Hopes for a fat new package of government spending to plump the American economy looked to be a casualty of the election, with odds pointing to divided government. That left Jerome Powell the once and future king of markets, a regime stock investors are showing they can live with. To say bulls shook off disappointment over stimulus is an …

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UAE believes in tolerance, openness and coexistence with all peoples

New York / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has said that the UAE believes in tolerance, openness and coexistence with all peoples, highlighting that the model that the UAE adopts in terms of human diversity is similar to that of the United Nations, where the …

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Libya’s oil output passes million-barrel milestone

Bloomberg Libya boosted oil production to more than 1 million barrels a day, a milestone for the North African nation after its civil war all but shut down the energy industry at the start of the year. The Opec member, which owns Africa’s largest crude reserves, has been ramping up production since a truce took hold last month between rival …

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Goldman Sachs moving up to $60bn of assets to Germany

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is shifting as much as $60 billion of assets from the UK to Frankfurt, the latest sign that banks are beefing up their European Union (EU) operations ahead of Brexit. The Wall Street bank plans to move between $40 billion to $60 billion to its German subsidiary by the end of the year, according to …

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Malaysia holds key rate at record low

Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate at a record low, while warning of downside risks from the pandemic that threaten economy’s recovery. Bank Negara Malaysia held its overnight policy rate at 1.75% at its final scheduled meeting of the year, as expected by 17 of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The rest predicted a 25-basis point cut. …

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Novelli expects more volatility on virus setbacks

Bloomberg Negative surprises on Covid-19 crisis may fuel further market volatility in Europe, including potential corporate defaults next year, according to Piero Noelli, co-head of UBS Group AG’s investment bank. Lockdowns in Europe and restrictions on mobility will cause a double dip in growth in the fourth quarter, he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Francine Lacqua. Setbacks on …

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