Bloomberg Taiwanese Vice President William Lai held a video call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — his second meeting with a senior US politician in two days— on topics including human rights in China. Pelosi, who has called for a diplomatic boycott of next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics, reiterated her concern about Chinese human rights abuses, according to a ...
Read More »French far-right leader Le Pen shores up campaign with loan
Bloomberg The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen finally secured a bank loan for her financially struggling campaign to challenge President Emmanuel Macron. The candidate in the April presidential election obtained a 10.6 million euro loan from a European bank, Jordan Bardella, president of her National Rally party, told Agence France-Presse. A spokeswoman for Le Pen didn’t immediately respond ...
Read More »Chastened Draghi buys time to fix Italy after presidential chaos
Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s failed bid to become Italian president has tarnished the aura that helped him keep a fractious coalition in line. But the damage suffered by the country’s main political parties means that the prime minister may still have the leverage to push through his agenda in the final year of his mandate. After six days of chaotic ...
Read More »Visa, Mastercard see spending soar amid Omicron headwind
Bloomberg In the eyes of Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc., consumers are learning to live with the coronavirus pandemic. Both networks said that spending on their cards surged to a record in the final three months of last year, even as the highly contagious Omicron variant disrupted travel and sparked fresh rounds of lockdowns. Spending on Visa’s network soared ...
Read More »IMF advises Japan to keep stimulus rolling
Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) should keep its inflation-targeting stimulus rolling and consider shortening the maturity of its yield target to make its easing framework more sustainable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said, in comments that contrast with global moves to tighten policy. Given that Japan’s underlying inflation momentum remains weak at around 0.5% and is not currently ...
Read More »UniCredit walks away from deal to take over Russia’s Otkritie Bank
Bloomberg UniCredit SpA withdrew from a possible deal to take over Russian lender Otkritie Bank FC, with Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel signalling that the military build-up in the region was a factor in the decision. “Given the geopolitical environment we decided to withdraw from the data room,†Orcel said in a media call. “The combined bank would have ...
Read More »Kotak Mahindra Bank sees 15% increase in Q3 profit
Bloomberg Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.’s profit rises 15% in the third quarter on a cut in provisioning and higher net interest earnings aided by an easing of the pandemic. Net income stood at 21.3 billion rupees ($284 million) in quarter ended December compared with 18.5 billion rupees a year ago. That beat an average estimate of 20.7 billion rupees ...
Read More »DBS to buy Citigroup Taiwan consumer bank assets
Bloomberg DBS Group Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s consumer banking assets in Taiwan, as Southeast Asia’s largest lender pushes ahead with plans to boost its regional presence. The Singapore bank will pay cash for Citi Consumer Taiwan’s net assets plus a premium of S$956 million ($707 million), which will be determined at the close of the deal ...
Read More »AmEx boosts revenue, profit forecasts
Bloomberg American Express Co is putting the pandemic behind it, boosting forecasts for revenue and profit after spending on its cards surged to a record. Revenue will climb as much as 20% this year while earnings could reach $9.25 to $9.65 a share, the company said in a statement. AmEx has long said 2022 would be the year it ...
Read More »Maserati MC20 test-drive reveals simple joy
Bloomberg Excessively loud, exceedingly rare, and bursting at the seams with Italian luster, the Maserati MC12 is considered by collectors to be the most desirable car ever produced by the 107-year-old brand. Values surge easily past $2 million for the 50 street versions and 12 racing versions produced for only four months between 2004 and 2005. The modern version of ...
Read More »