Bloomberg Germany and the European Union will continue to hold the Belarus government responsible for ongoing violations of human rights in the country, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her weekly video message. The elections in the country six months ago were not free, fair or transparent and neither Germany nor the EU accept Alexander Lukashenko as the winner, Merkel said, ...
Read More »Somalia faces political crisis without deal over election
Bloomberg Somalia’s leaders failed to reach consensus after a three-day meeting to address obstacles to holding presidential elections next week, raising the prospect of a political crisis in the Horn of Africa country. The outcome of the meeting in the city of Dhusamareeb is a clear indication it won’t be possible to hold elections as scheduled, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Mursal ...
Read More »India’s internet ban fuels anger as farmers block highways
Bloomberg Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers have blocked highways across the country in defiance of the government’s internet and phone blackout, facing off against a heavy security deployment stationed behind rows of razor wire and concrete blocks. They’re demanding a repeal of laws pushed through parliament by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year that they claim favour ...
Read More »RBI rejects bids for benchmark bond in India as yields surge
Bloomberg India’s central bank rejected all bids for its benchmark bond at an auction after yields jumped on concern the regulator’s measures to support the debt market fell short of expectations. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond rises to its highest in over five months in early trading while corporate notes had their biggest weekly loss since May. Traders ...
Read More »Banks not finished shifting $970bn of assets out of UK
Bloomberg Big banks still had 810 billion euros ($970 billion) of capital markets-related assets to move from the UK to the European Union at the end of September, underlining the extent of the moves ahead as they adjust to operating after Brexit. International banks have agreed to shift a total of about 1.2 trillion euros of assets to European units, ...
Read More »Ex-Commerzbank CEO plans European SPAC
Bloomberg Ex-Commerzbank AG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martin Blessing is planning to raise funds for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) targeting deals in the European financial industry. Blessing has been speaking with potential partners about listing a blank-check company in Amsterdam. He’s seeking to raise about 300 million euros ($359 million), they said. Credit Suisse Group AG is advising on ...
Read More »Biggest Indian bank sees steepest weekly surge in three decades
Bloomberg Shares of State Bank of India, the nation’s largest by assets, surged this week by the most in almost three decades, buoyed by plans to tackle bad debt and a profit that beat expectations. The Mumbai-based lender jumped 39.4% — most since March 1992 — to a record close of 393.10 rupees. Investors cheered the fact that higher provisions ...
Read More »Bitcoin rally takes crypto market value to another record
Bloomberg Bitcoin climbed towards $40,000 in a rally that helped the market value of digital tokens scale a new peak. The largest cryptocurrency rises as much as 4.3% to $39,499 on Saturday, taking it closer to early January’s record of almost $42,000. The value of more than 6,000 tokens tracked by CoinGecko hit an unprecedented $1.22 trillion. The jump comes ...
Read More »Westpac to move forward with life insurance unit sale
Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp. is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. as it prepares to kick off a formal sale process for its life insurance business as soon as this month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. AIA Group Ltd., Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. are among the firms that have been approached ...
Read More »BNP Paribas sees revenue recovery
Bloomberg BNP Paribas signalled higher revenue and potential share buybacks this year after reporting weaker-than-expected trading results and a slowdown at fixed-income business. The French bank posted an uneven fourth-quarter performance that saw net income and provisions beat estimates, while overall revenue and trading came in below expectations. While the lender signaled an uncertain outlook as the pandemic continues to ...
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