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Bloomberg Two months after most African nations closed their borders and imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus, they’re deciding it’s not worth the economic cost. Countries began shutting their economies soon after the first case was detected in Nigeria in February and before the disease started to take hold on the continent. That helped keep Africa’s reported ...

Bloomberg Banks in Asia’s financial hubs such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. are finding that the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak is helping them push back on a threat from a new breed of virtual upstarts. With branches shut, customers social distancing and fearful of tainted cash, the brick-and-mortar giants are seeing a surge in demand for digital ...

Bloomberg Don’t let anyone tell you regulators haven’t punished Wells Fargo & Co. — or at least its shareholders. The scandal-ridden bank has lost $220 billion in stock-market value since the Federal Reserve imposed an unprecedented cap on the firm’s assets in early 2018, crimping its ability to add customers and loans. The constraints are biting harder this year as ...

Bloomberg Japan’s top banks forecast the biggest bad-loan costs since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, joining other global lenders in bracing for the fallout from coronavirus pandemic. Total credit costs at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will almost double to $10.3 billion in the year ending March 2021, ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) is examining unconventional monetary policy measures more urgently amid the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to its Chief Economist Andrew Haldane. The central bank is reviewing a number of policies — including negative interest rates and expanding the scope of the bank’s asset-purchase plan to include riskier securities — as it ...

Bloomberg A crisis was supposed to be Bitcoin’s time to shine, when the need for an international currency outside the reach of central banks would prove invaluable. That hasn’t been the case. No matter to crypto die-hards. The future is brighter than ever, especially as central banks around the world pump cash into listing economies, threatening a wave of inflation ...

Bloomberg Kenyan banks are expected to hoard cash as they report a jump in first-quarter loan-loss provisions to cope with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Kenyan institutions got a cash boost when the central bank lowered reserve requirements to free up funds for lending, while interest rates have been cut to a nine-year low. Banks have now started restructuring ...

Bloomberg Hemmed in by the world’s strictest stay-at-home measures, Raunaq Singh, owner of a clothes store in India’s capital of New Delhi, has begun to dabble in the nation’s equities. “I had been thinking about it in the past few months, but I had a busy schedule,” said the 27-year-old, who split 160,000 rupees ($2,117) between a couple of stocks ...

Bloomberg The main equity index in Saudi Arabia led gains in the Gulf after crude advanced for a third consecutive week as the kingdom and other main producers cut output while demand shows signs of recovery. The Tadawul All Share Index rose 1.3% as of 11:30 am in Riyadh, with petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries and oil giant Saudi Aramco ...

Bloomberg As the world began to go into lockdown, the biggest money managers loaded up on quarantine stocks. Netflix Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc. were some of the most sought-after names in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings. George Soros, Stan Druckenmiller and Philippe Laffont were among the managers piling into such stocks. ...