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Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple – or “GAFA,” as they’re known in France – are easy to group together in the European imagination. They’re big, they’re American and they’ve tended to pay relatively little tax, thanks to legal loopholes and a business model that exists largely in the virtual world. Frustrated governments have tried to use the courts and the ...

Bloomberg Global stocks drifted alongside US index futures on Tuesday, as investors searched for fresh direction after China lowered its growth forecasts and as speculation endured that a Sino-American trade deal is near. Treasuries fell while the dollar strengthened for a fifth day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index reversed an earlier gain, with automakers and banking shares dragging the gauge ...

Bloomberg Greece marked a milestone in its recovery from a bruising financial crisis after agreeing to sell 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) of 10-year bonds for the first time in nine years. The syndicated offer for the 2029 notes will price to yield 3.9 percent, less than an initial target of about 4.13 percent, a person familiar with the matter ...

Bloomberg In Sweden, finding a bank not embroiled in controversy is getting difficult these days. A number of clients who left Nordea Bank Abp after it opted to move to Helsinki from Stockholm ended up at Swedbank AB. Now, they’re questioning whether that was a good choice given allegations of money laundering against their new lender. Customers to have left ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s state-run PT Bank Mandiri is exploring a takeover of PT Bank Permata, the rival lender backed by Standard Chartered Plc, people with knowledge of matter said. Mandiri is working with Morgan Stanley on the potential deal, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It is considering buying control of Permata ...

Bloomberg Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte surprised central bank watchers by naming his budget secretary as governor of the monetary authority. The peso slumped the most in more than five years. Benjamin Diokno, 70, will succeed Nestor Espenilla, who died in February after a battle with cancer. The new Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor will serve the remainder of his predecessor’s ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank held its nerve in the face of a credit squeeze and tumbling property prices, keeping interest rates unchanged as it waits to see how consumers respond. Governor Philip Lowe kept the cash rate at 1.5 percent on Tuesday — as expected by markets and economists — saying “the main domestic uncertainty continues to be the strength ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Tuesday, saying inflation is likely to remain low after the economy slipped into deflation in January. The central bank kept its overnight policy rate at 3.25 percent, in line with the forecasts of all 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Bank Negara Malaysia has left the rate on hold since ...

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is in talks to buy shares in Hong Kong’s only budget airline from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., as Asia’s biggest international carrier seeks to gain a foothold in the region’s booming low-cost travel market. Cathay is in “active discussions” about an acquisition involving Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd., the marquee carrier said in a ...

Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp. pumped up speculation that it will announce plans to order long-range aircraft and start trans-Atlantic flights, inviting employees to a special event next month. The carrier said it would hold a “chat about JetBlue’s vision and strategy” on April 10, followed by a party in New York. The announcement spurred a flurry of speculation on social ...