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Apocalyptic visions of hastily-raised national barriers to trade, long lines of trucks gathering at the border, and shortages of essential supplies have haunted Europe ever since the UK voted to leave the bloc since 2016. If such a scenario is getting closer to reality, it has little to do with Brexit and everything to do with the coronavirus pandemic. Erratic ...

What scientists know about Covid-19 is changing fast. And people — from the public to politicians to the press — are confusing the possible with the probable. It’s causing a lot of undue guilt and fear. In times like these, we turn to experts — but what are we supposed to think when the experts themselves are so uncertain? We’re ...

Bloomberg Stocks dropped globally along with American futures while credit markets sagged after the coronavirus death toll surged and US Congress failed to agree on a $2 trillion stimulus plan. Government bonds rose. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped to their daily limits in early trading before trimming those declines as the session progressed. The Stoxx Europe 600 slumped, ...

Bloomberg Indian assets suffered a rough start to the week as stocks posted their worst-ever day on record as trading resumed after a system-wide halt, and the rupee hit a new low following a lockdown in much of Asia’s third-biggest economy. The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 indexes crashed 13% each at the close in Mumbai, just ...

Bloomberg An investigation paid for by Swedbank AB into allegations of financial crime found that client transactions totaling 36.7 billion euros ($40 billion) represented a “high risk” of money laundering. “It’s obvious that there have been cultures in the bank that are not acceptable,” Swedbank CEO Jens Henriksson said in a statement on Monday. A review has been launched to ...

Bloomberg Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said Europe’s rescue fund should be activated to lend to states struggling with the coronavirus outbreak, a move that could pave the way for further sovereign bond purchases by the European Central Bank. Villeroy’s call comes as euro-area officials consider a plan that would see the European Stability Mechanism set up ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand is seeking to backstop market stability after a jump in bond yields stoked concerns that stresses are building up. The monetary authority pledged to ensure sufficient liquidity for markets to function well as it unveiled an emergency interest-rate cut to counter the economic shock of the coronavirus outbreak. Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob and other key guardians ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank has taken the historic leap to quantitative easing to try to limit a looming recession as the negative economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak intensify. The Reserve Bank will buy up to NZ$30 billion ($17 billion) of government bonds in the secondary market over the next 12 months, it said in a statement on Monday. ...

Bloomberg Central banks started the new week right where they left off on Friday — massively buying government debt to provide liquidity. Bond yields tumbled in Australia and New Zealand. The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of Japan offered to buy the equivalent of almost $10 billion in debt on Monday. While credit markets globally are seeing the ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is stepping up currency interventions to stem the franc’s advance, choosing that measure over an interest-rate cut to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. It said the virus poses “exceptionally large challenges” and that the currency is “even more highly valued.” That change to its wording on the franc is a warning ...