| | Asset manager BlackRock has said 2023 will require a new investment playbook, backing banks and energy sectors to do well while slapping 'underweights' on longer-term European government bonds and emerging market local currency debt. | | | U.S. hedge fund Engine Capital on Wednesday urged Univar Solutions Inc to consider a sale or other strategic options, days after Germany's Brenntag SE said it was in preliminary talks to buy the chemicals company. | | | Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and National Bank of Canada , two of the biggest banks in the country, posted a drop in profits as their market-focused businesses took a hit from the central bank's hawkish monetary tightening campaign. | | | National Bank of Canada posted a lower fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the Canadian lender set aside higher provisions in the face of an economic downturn. | | | HSBC will close 114 branches in Britain from April 2023, the British lender said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of such announcements by retail banks in the country as they slash their networks to try and cut costs. | | | Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Wednesday it had fined a UK subsidiary of Swiss private bank Julius Baer 18 million pounds ($21.59 million) for failing to conduct its business with integrity. | | | David Lipton, one of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's closest advisers who has helped shape international economic policy, will step down on Wednesday, the department said. | | | Credit Suisse shares and bonds took another hit on Wednesday in a sign the embattled Swiss bank is struggling to regain investor confidence ahead of a planned $2.4 billion fundraising to help pay for a major overhaul. | | | UBS is not actively benefiting from the crisis at rival Credit Suisse , UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher told a Financial Times banking conference on Wednesday. | | | Chinese ventures of foreign asset managers including JPMorgan , Warburg Pincus (WP.UL) and UBS are gearing up to expand their retirement offerings, as the country officially unveiled a private pension system last week. | | | | |