Merkel party braces for power struggle over succession fiasco

Bloomberg With Angela Merkel’s succession plan unraveling, her Christian Democrats (CDU) are bracing for an open power struggle at the party’s national convention later this month. Less than a year after picking Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to head the CDU, a consensus is building among party officials that she’s not suited to run for chancellor after a series of gaffes, poor election ...

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HK stabbing raises vote-safety questions

Bloomberg Hong Kong has been gripped for almost five months by protests demanding greater democracy. Now, a pair of bloody attacks on candidates is raising questions about whether the city can even hold an election. On Wednesday, a pro-Beijing lawmaker known for his inflammatory comments against protesters was stabbed on the street while campaigning. Earlier this week, a pro-democracy candidate ...

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Johnson fights back after Tory blunders

Bloomberg Boris Johnson tried to get his campaign on track after a stumble with one of his best-known ministers in trouble for comments about people killed in a tower-block fire. Johnson launched the Conservative Party election campaign with a rally in the West Midlands on Wednesday. Before that, the prime minister travelled to see Queen Elizabeth II before returning to ...

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Most Russians want ‘decisive’ change in country: Study

Bloomberg Nearly six in ten Russians want “decisive and full-scale changes” in the country amid growing discontent with the authorities over living standards, according to new research. The proportion wanting change reached 59% this year, up from 42% in 2017, the study by the Carnegie Moscow Center and the Levada Center polling organisation showed. After five years of stagnating incomes ...

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Germany seeks to break EU bank union deadlock

Bloomberg Germany’s finance ministry sought to break the deadlock in discussions over European banking integration by signaling it may drop its opposition to a key part of the plan. Berlin is ready to consider a form of joint European deposit insurance, something that would stabilise the financial system by reducing the risk of bank runs, according to a finance ministry ...

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Thailand cuts rate to rein in surging baht

Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in three months and said it will ease rules on outflows to curb a surging currency. Five of the seven Monetary Policy Committee members voted to cut the key rate by a quarter-percentage point to 1.25%, the central bank said in a statement. That matches a ...

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Silicon Valley Bank lends to Danish tech firms

Bloomberg A California bank with deep ties to the US venture capital industry is targeting Denmark for growth, as a lack of regulatory constraints on lending make the country a preferred destination in Scandinavia. Silicon Valley Bank, a unit of SVB Financial Group, says it’s budgeted a minimum of about $200 million to lend to Danish technology companies. Erin Platts, ...

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Postal Savings Bank to raise $4.1 billion in China IPO

Bloomberg Postal Savings Bank of China Co is poised for the country’s biggest initial public offering since 2015. The Beijing-based lender, which is already listed in Hong Kong, plans to raise 28.4 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) in what would be the world’s third-largest listing this year behind Uber Technologies Inc’s $8.1 billion share sale in May. One of China’s largest ...

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Romania extends rate pause after inflation

Bloomberg Romania extended a record pause in borrowing costs to almost a year and a half after an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in inflation and as central banks around the world loosen monetary policy. The benchmark rate was left at 2.5% for a 12th straight meeting, as predicted by all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It’s the first decision by the new ...

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Deutsche Bank: Negative rates worsen EU lenders’ retreat

Bloomberg Europe’s finance industry has seen its global sway erode dramatically and the main weapon being used to boost the continent’s economies is making things worse, a top Deutsche Bank AG executive warned. The region’s banks and insurers “have lost dramatic amounts of ground,” with only one still ranking in the top 20 globally by market value, compared with six ...

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