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Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was denounced by the head of Venezuela’s legislature over a report that the bank bought $2.8 billion of bonds from that country, potentially helping President Nicolas Maduro’s administration amid accusations of human-rights violations. The investment bank’s asset management arm paid about $865 million, or 31 cents on the dollar, for bonds issued in 2014 by ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Al Hilal Bank was awarded two awards including the Best New Loyalty Program for its Joud Rewards Program and Best Innovative Banking Services Award for its EIDA Card by Banker Middle East UAE Product Awards. Alex Coelho, the Chief Executive Officer of Al Hilal Bank said: “It is our mandate to maintain the highest levels ...

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabian lender Alawwal Bank, 40 percent owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, has picked JPMorgan to advise it on a proposed merger with Saudi British Bank (SABB), sources familiar with the matter said. Senior management of SABB and Alawwal held talks with advisers to discuss the principle of the merger and timeframe for its completion, one ...

Bloomberg Commerzbank AG has sent out early retirement offers to about 3,000 employees, a first key step in the German lender’s move towards cutting 9,600 jobs over four years, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The offer entitles eligible employees born before 1962 to a 30,000-euro ($34,000) sweetener, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal ...

Bloomberg Mauritian banks are becoming beacons of growth and stability in sub-Saharan Africa. Unscathed by the vagaries of the oil price and unhindered by the political battles that have roiled some of their continental peers, the Indian Ocean island’s lenders have been bolstered by an economy growing faster than many of the mainland countries. The central bank expects the Mauritian ...

Bloomberg Akzo Nobel NV’s court victory against activist shareholder Elliott Management Corp. has strengthened the Dutch paintmaker’s hand in resisting a takeover approach from suitor PPG Industries Inc. and put pressure on the US rival to take its offer directly to investors. The Commercial Court of the Netherlands ruled late on Monday that Akzo Nobel is under no obligation to ...

Bloomberg Denmark’s center-right government raised its forecast for economic growth this year and predicted it will borrow less via bond markets as the public deficit shrinks. The minority coalition of Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen expects gross domestic product to expand 1.7 percent this year, faster than the 1.5 percent it forecast just last month, according to Economy Ministry documents ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s economy slowed at the start of the year as exports struggled to maintain momentum, dulling a housing-fueled investment and consumption boom in the largest Nordic economy. Gross domestic product grew 0.4 percent in the first quarter and expanded an annual 2.2 percent, Statistics Sweden said on Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated growth of 0.9 percent and 2.9 ...

Bloomberg Turkey may sell as much as $8 billion in debt, according to a US regulatory filing, a sign the government may be preparing to ramp up borrowing as it seeks to plug a widening budget deficit. Turkey may offer the securities from “time to time in one or more offerings” and will use the proceeds for general financing purposes, ...

When in the Senate chamber, Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, sits by choice at the desk used by the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan. New York’s scholar-senator would have recognized that Sasse has published a book of political philosophy in the form of a guide to parenting. Moynihan understood that politics is downstream from culture, which flows through families. Sasse, a ...