The creation of a new Italian government proved to be a long, uncertain and publicly painful process for all involved. But after almost three months, Lega and Five-Star Movement (M5S) formally joined forces last week, with a hybrid cabinet consisting of some rather odd political bedfellows, drawn from across the ideological and professional spectrum. These […]

Britain is selling some of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland for about 2.6 billion pounds ($3.5 billion), although it will realize a significant loss as it unwinds its holding and returns the bailed-out lender to private hands. The government said on Monday it would sell about 7.7 percent of RBS, which was rescued […]

European bourses look set to begin Tuesday’s session on the back foot as trade concerns continue to worry global markets. The German DAX is seen opening down 20 points at 12,760 while the U.K. FTSE and the French CAC are expected to open 15 points lower at 7,722 and 5,455 respectively. Meanwhile, the Italian FTSE […]

Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki resigned from his government position Monday in the wake of several days of mass protests in the capital Amman — the country’s largest demonstrations in more than five years. The resignation, reported by Reuters quoting an official source, was said to have been brokered during a meeting with the country’s […]

The Greek government is confident that rules surrounding its debt repayments will be relaxed this month, despite reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is unlikely to unlock more money for Athens. “The general atmosphere is that there will be an agreement on debt at the June Eurogroup,” a Greek government official, who did not […]

Blockchain technology could soon revolutionize the global banking industry, according to the chief executives of two major European lenders. Banks have invested millions in developing blockchain applications in recent years, as part of a broader industry effort to try to cut costs and simplify their back-office processes. The technology, which is perhaps better known as […]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ended her silence on euro zone reform by showing some willingness to increase risk-sharing — a long-standing issue for many politicians in Berlin. Merkel on Sunday revealed her vision for the future of the euro zone bailout fund — the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) — and for an investment budget to […]

Facebook struck dozens of data-sharing deals with smartphone and tablet makers over the last decade, according to a report by The New York Times. The newspaper revealed Sunday that Facebook had formed at least 60 data-sharing partnerships with device makers including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Samsung over the last 10 years. Without explicit consent, these […]

An anti-immigration opposition party won Slovenia’s parliamentary election on Sunday, taking 25 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. However, the center-right Slovenia Democratic Party (SDS) of former prime minister Janez Jansa may struggle to pull together a government as its hardline stance on immigration has left it short of potential coalition partners. Jansa […]

Italy’s biggest bank, UniCredit SpA is exploring a merger with France’s Societe Generale SA in a move that would see the European banks leading the way for banking mergers on the continent, the FT said on Sunday. UniCredit’s French chief executive, Jean-Pierre Mustier, a former head of SocGen’s investment banking unit, has been developing the […]