Articles by Amanda Cooper, Tom Westbrook and John Revill

Update: Bank Shares Rise After Credit Suisse Rescue Eases Crisis

U.S. banking stocks rose on Monday and Europe’s lenders recovered from a sharp early sell-off after UBS Group’s state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse appeared to close off one source of worry for the global banking sector. In a package engineered …

Hackers Return $260M to Cryptocurrency Platform After Theft of $613M in Digital Coins

LONDON/SINGAPORE/HONG KONG – Hackers behind one of the biggest ever cryptocurrency heists have returned more than a third of $613 million in digital coins they stole, the company at the center of the hack said on Wednesday. Poly Network, a …

Australia’s AMP to Sell Life Insurance Arm at Discount, as Funds Bleed Cash

Australia’s largest wealth manager AMP Ltd said on Thursday it would sell its life insurance arm at a discount and revealed its funds were hemorrhaging cash as clients pulled out their money in response to revelations of systemic wrongdoing. Investors …

Australia’s Financial Institutions Put Profit over Customers, Mis-Sold Insurance: Inquiry

Australia’s big banks and wealth managers pursued profit ahead of their customers’ interests and saw regulatory compliance as a cost rather than a guide to proper conduct, a scathing interim report from a commission of inquiry said on Friday. The …

Australia Bans China’s Huawei from Supplying Mobile Equipment, Citing Hacking Risks

Australia has banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network, citing risks of foreign interference and hacking which Beijing dismissed as an “excuse” to tilt the playing field against a Chinese firm. …

Australia’s QBE Reports 4% Rise in H1 Profit – on Fewer Natural Disasters

Australia’s QBE Insurance Group Ltd. posted a better-than-expected 4 percent rise in first-half profit, helped by fewer natural disasters in its biggest markets, sending its shares up almost 9 percent to their highest since November. The strong result draws a …

Facebook in Australia Faces Potential Class Action Suit over Data Privacy Breaches

Litigation funder IMF Bentham Ltd is preparing to potentially sue social media giant Facebook Inc in Australia over its sharing of users’ data with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. The world’s largest social network said in April that data of up …

Cash-Strapped Papua New Guinea Gov’t Struggles to Help Desperate Quake Survivors

Almost a month after a deadly earthquake, Papua New Guinea is struggling to get aid to desperate survivors, having allocated just a fraction of its relief funds, while a rent dispute left disaster officials briefly locked out of their offices. …

Weather, Road Damage Slows Relief Efforts After Papua New Guinea Quake

The death toll from the strongest earthquake to strike Papua New Guinea’s rugged interior in almost a century has climbed to 31 and would probably rise further, officials said on Thursday, as damage to roads, runways and phone lines slowed …

Earthquake in Papua New Guinea Causes ‘Massive Destruction’; Death Toll Rises

Whole villages were flattened and water sources spoiled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 20 people, residents said on Wednesday as rescuers struggled to reach the hardest-hit areas in Papua New Guinea’s remote, mountainous highlands. The magnitude 7.5 …