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Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web, tweeted up a storm on Thursday, reassuring internet users that they could reassert control over their data — and the web’s future — after the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandals. He’s right, but not necessarily in the way he imagines. “What can Web users do?” Berners-Lee wrote. “Get involved. Care about your ...

Bloomberg Two of China’s largest banks posted better-than-expected profit growth in 2017 as a strengthening economy curbed soured loans and the government’s campaign to cut debt boosted their lending margins. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd on Tuesday reported a 3 percent increase in net income last year, while Agricultural Bank of China Ltd posted a 5 percent gain. ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank alerted auditors that lenders could try to take advantage of the transition to new accounting standards to spread the hit on loan losses over years instead of reflecting them in their 2017 financial results, three people familiar with the matter said. The ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, which oversees the region’s largest banks, flagged the risk ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is considering candidates to potentially replace Chief Executive Officer John Cryan amid heightened tensions between him and Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner, the Times of London reported without saying where it got the information. The bank approached Richard Gnodde, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s international operations, but he’s thought to have spurned the overture, ...

Bloomberg Indonesia ordered the nation’s biggest lenders to set aside additional capital to bolster their ability to absorb losses and protect against any bank failures. The Financial Services Authority, known as OJK, told the country’s systemically important banks to create a tier-1 capital surcharge of between 1 percent and 3.5 percent of risk-weighted assets, depending on the size and perceived ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. announced changes to its risk-management leadership as some executives plan to retire, according to a person familiar with the situation. The director of financial crimes risk management Jim Richards; head of operational risk and compliance Kevin Oden; Keb Byers, who runs enterprise risk; and the community banking risk group’s Vic Albrecht are stepping down in ...

Bloomberg Bonds that are supposed to make banks stronger may end up causing another crisis. The 178.6 billion euros ($222 billion) of notes that are meant to absorb losses at European banks — while keeping them a going concern — have gone largely untested. Actually triggering these contingent convertible notes, or CoCos, could spook investors and destabilise other lenders, especially ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is taking aim at France, securing a delivery deal with Casino Guichard Perrachon SA that shakes up one of Europe’s most competitive grocery markets. Groceries from Casino’s Monoprix stores will be sold via Amazon’s Prime Now service in Paris and the surrounding region, the companies said. The move comes as Amazon pushes further into food in Europe ...

Bloomberg Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB said it’s increasing markdowns this quarter after accumulating a record pile of unsold garments worth more than $4 billion. Operating profit fell 62 percent to the lowest level in 16 years as inventory rose to 17.6 percent of sales in the first quarter. The stock slumped to the lowest in almost a ...

Bloomberg Airlines are coming under UK government pressure to disclose more information about the hundreds of pounds worth of extra fees that travellers can rack up after they book flights. The UK’s Department for Transport intends to release an aviation policy on the charges, which can cover changing a passenger’s name or reissuing boarding cards, Aviation Minister Elizabeth Sugg said ...