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The Italian government looks set to put Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza, two troubled regional lenders, into liquidation, selling off the good assets to a rival bank for a symbolic price. The toxic assets would be transferred to a bad bank, mostly funded by the government. Shareholders and junior bond-holders would contribute to the rescue, while senior creditors ...

Apple Inc. has long proved adept at negotiating China’s notoriously challenging market, responding to fickle consumer tastes and unpredictable regulation far more adeptly than its competitors. But a recent decision to start taking a 30 percent commission on “tips” paid to artists and entertainers online threatens to undermine that savvy reputation — and quite possibly Apple’s long-term prospects in China. ...

Bloomberg After China finally got a start on seeing its local stocks into global equity indexes, focus turns to what could be an even bigger deal — winning inclusion into the world’s benchmark bond gauges. China is preparing the final touches for the next stage in that campaign — a “Bond Connect” program with Hong Kong that will allow international ...

Bloomberg The euro erased gains, bonds pared losses and equities jumped after the European Central Bank suggested financial markets misinterpreted comments from Mario Draghi on the rise of inflation. Draghi’s speech was intended to strike a balance between recognizing the currency bloc’s economic strength and warning that monetary support is still need, according to people familiar with the situation. The ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG, the German lender seeking to overhaul how it manages risks, made a bet on US inflation that puts the firm on course to lose as much as $60 million, people familiar with the matter said. The trade used derivative products tied to US inflation, said the people, who requested anonymity because the details aren’t public. The ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s central bank filed court papers to reverse an instruction by the anti-graft ombudsman that its mandate of protecting the value of currency be changed, saying the “reckless” proposal is harming the economy. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane in a report earlier this month instructed parliament to start a process to change the nation’s constitution to make the central ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank could increase interest rates eight times in the next two years, former board member John Edwards said. The Reserve Bank of Australia is probably already considering a program of rate increases given its forecasts for inflation returning to target and economic growth to accelerate to 3 percent against a stronger global backdrop, Edwards said in a ...

Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe helped draw the battle lines for the August interest-rate decision, saying that policy makers have time before they need to hike. While some members of the BOE’s rate-setting committee have argued that consumer-price inflation of 2.9 percent means an increase in borrowing costs from a record-low 0.25 percent is required imminently, ...

Bloomberg Four years after questioning whether global investment banks would survive the regulatory scrutiny unleashed after the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts are now singing a different tune. Investment banks are “in better shape and better managed than ever, especially in the U.S.,” analysts led by Kian Abouhossein wrote in a note to clients Monday. “Global investment banks ...

Bloomberg China’s banking regulator, which has asked local lenders to provide loan information on the country’s top deal-making companies, is examining examples of acquisitions gone awry by those firms to assess potential risks to the financial sector, people familiar with the matter said. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) is seeking to gauge how much risk Chinese banks face by ...