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About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said La Maison co-founder Manuel Valente. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.” Zimbabwe, where ...

Bloomberg US stocks hit a new high, while the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso scored gains after a report of progress in negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The S&P 500 Index approached the 2,600 mark, reaching its highest level on record. While the Thanksgiving holiday gives traders an excuse to pause, equities are heading into the ...

Reuters Most Middle East stock markets fell on Tuesday, weighed down by geopolitical worries, but Abu Dhabi was boosted by government plans to privatise parts of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC). Saudi Arabia’s stock index fell 0.4 percent on the back of weak banks and cement shares. National Commercial Bank , the largest lender, lost 1.8 percent while Riyad ...

Bloomberg UK politicians are fighting to get a deal early next year that will ease businesses’ panic about Brexit. For some industries, it’s probably too late. Barring some major breakthrough, global banks will implement their relocation plans early next year to guarantee they’re able to have new offices inside the European Union running by the time the UK exits, people ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank is likely to make multiple small adjustments to its guidance on monetary policy next year rather than any major change in language as it ends quantitative easing, according to euro-area officials familiar with the thinking of policy makers. Incremental shifts in the wording used to describe the expected path of its policy would make sense ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. and BNP Paribas SA dropped in global regulators’ ranking of banks that pose the biggest threat to the financial system, and authorities recommended they face lower capital surcharges. Citigroup fell one level in the ranking, meaning its extra capital requirement under international standards will be 2 percent of risk-weighted assets, according to the Financial Stability Board’s latest ...

Bloomberg Bidvest Group Ltd.’s banking unit agreed to buy FinGlobal, a provider of financial services to South Africans living outside the country, as part of an acquisition drive to expand and diversify its business. Bidvest Bank will fund the purchase out of its 2 billion rand ($142 million) in cash reserves, Managing Director Japie van Niekerk said by phone on ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank chief said interest rates will likely rise eventually as policy makers’ patience is finally rewarded with unemployment falling sufficiently to spur wage growth and faster inflation. “We’re not too far away from 2 percent and I think we’ll get there, we’re just not getting there as quickly as we would like to,” Governor Philip Lowe said ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said its fares are set to gain this winter, buoyed by the collapse of carriers including UK-based Monarch Airlines Ltd. and capacity cuts at main European rival Ryanair Holdings Plc. The demise of Monarch and Germany’s Air Berlin Plc, a bankruptcy filing at Italy’s Alitalia SpA and Ryanair’s move to scrap part of its timetable amid a ...

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc, which doesn’t recognise trade unions, lurched further towards collective bargaining after pilots in its home market of Ireland founded a new body and demanded negotiations with the discount operator. Management should engage exclusively on national matters with the “Ryanair Company Council,” the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association said in a letter to Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s ...