New chief of Japan’s SMBC bank ‘actively studying’ acquisition of US bank
TOKYO (Reuters) – The new head of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) said it is “actively studying” an acquisition of a U.S. bank, as part of efforts to seek a reliable dollar funding source for future growth.
Ford CEO Mark Fields’ compensation rose 8 percent in 2016
DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields’ salary, bonus and stock awards rose 8 percent to a total of $18.8 million in 2016, while pretax profit for the automaker fell slightly from 2015’s record high, it said on Friday.
Airbus faces cash headache, lengthy talks over A400M delays
PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – Airbus faces a cash squeeze and months of uncertainty over its troubled A400M troop plane after buyer nations upheld penalty clauses for delays to Europe’s largest defense project.
Wall Street’s rock-solid quarter ends with a loss
(Reuters) – Wall Street fell on Friday, pulled down by Exxon and JPMorgan Chase as investors wrapped up a strong quarter and weighed whether corporate earnings reports will justify the market’s lofty valuations.
DuPont in asset deal with FMC, delays close of Dow merger
(Reuters) – DuPont said on Friday it would buy a unit of FMC Corp and sell its crop protection business to the company to win European Union approval for its merger with Dow Chemical, and delayed the deal’s closing for the third time.
Consumer spending slows, but inflation is rising
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending barely rose in February amid delays in the payment of income tax refunds, but the biggest annual increase in inflation in nearly five years supported expectations of further interest rate hikes this year.
Verizon hires ex-Ericsson CEO, sets new operating structure
(Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc said on Friday that Hans Vestberg, the former Ericsson chief executive officer, has joined the company and will lead a team building out its fiber network infrastructures amid growing competition from smaller riv…
Germany urges EU to file WTO complaint against U.S. in steel row
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany urged the European Union on Friday to consider filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States over its plan to impose duties on imports of steel plate from five EU member states.
BlackBerry’s profit beats expectations
(Reuters) – Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Friday, as operating costs nearly halved, and said it expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis in 2018.
Mind the gap: high banker pay no guarantee of success
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Some of Europe’s most profitable lenders pay their chief executives the least, data from shareholder advisory group ISS shows, while loss-making banks reward their bosses more lavishly.




