With the departure of Wolfgang Schaeuble as the German finance chief following the federal election last month, political analysts and economists are busy profiling the possible next head of the country’s finance ministry. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) won the largest share of the […]

Multinationals headquartered in Catalonia have started weighing up whether the region will declare independence from the rest of Spain and the consequences that this would entail. Key Ibex companies including Caixabank have already announced plans to relocate their head office, while many others from all business sectors are considering doing the same. CNBC takes a […]

The ongoing political instability in Spain is raising eyebrows across the entire euro zone, Portugal’s deputy finance minister told CNBC Monday. “It’s not only a problem for Portugal, it’s an issue for the euro area and Europe as a whole,” Ricardo Mourinho Felix, secretary of state for the finance ministry, told CNBC exclusively on the […]

Britons who supported Brexit in last year’s referendum on European Union (EU) membership “voted against modern Britain,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview published Sunday. The former U.S. secretary of state told The Sunday Times: “They voted against modern Britain and the EU, believing that somehow this would be good for their small village. It […]

Russia is within its rights to restrict the operations of U.S. media organizations in Russia in retaliation for what Moscow calls U.S. pressure on a Kremlin-backed TV station, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Sunday. Russian officials have accused Washington of putting unwarranted pressure on the U.S. operations of RT, a Kremlin-funded broadcaster accused […]

Euro zone banks are well prepared for sharp changes in interest rates, the European Central Bank said on Monday after simulating scenarios from sudden monetary tightening to the lending freeze that followed Lehman Brothers’ collapse. The results come as the ECB prepares to start dialing back its monetary stimulus after years of ultra-low interest rates […]

Unstable loans and escalating levels of global debt could plunge the world into another financial crisis, departing German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Financial Times in an interview published Sunday. “Economists all over the world are concerned about the increased risks arising from the accumulation of more and more liquidity and the growth of […]

With Catalan separatists contemplating whether to declare independence for the autonomous region, experts have detailed how the national government could react as tensions in the region rise. The illegal October 1 referendum recorded 90 percent of Catalans voting in favor of independence, yet under half of the population voted, according to the Catalonia government. Meanwhile, […]

The potential constitutional crisis facing Madrid has not gone away and could reach a decisive point this week, despite a mass protest in favor of a united Spain on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Catalonia Sunday to call for unity, voicing their opposition to last week’s non-binding and illegal […]

Major European bourses are expected to open higher Monday morning, with investors watching political instability in Spain and a meeting of European finance ministers in Luxembourg. The U.K.’s FTSE is expected to start the day 2 points higher at 7,525, while the French CAC is seen up 14 points at 5,374. The German DAX is […]