Mansour Bin Jabr’s idea of a hard life may not resonate with everyone. “The cars, the jets, they don’t make me happy. I’m a hippie in a way. I love islands, beaches,” says the 30-year-old chief operating officer of Bin Jabr Group, having just returned from a business trip in the Maldives. “I see myself retired in the Bahamas in a resort I own with my toys. […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks were mixed on Monday in thin trade, following Wall Street’s declines and the G20’s decision to drop a pledge to avoid trade protectionism, while the Federal Reserve’s less hawkish-than-expected comments continued to drag the dollar lower. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS added 0.1 percent. Chinese shares .SSEC added 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng […]
That concern gives weight to arguments for greater reliance on special operators as the Trump administration for now eschews larger deployments of conventional troops and proposes deep cuts in foreign aid and State Department budgets. Continue reading the main story The global reach of special operators is widening. During the peak of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly 13,000 Special Operations forces were deployed on missions […]
Our round-up of the week’s best comment and analysis from the Financial Times focuses on positive signals for the word’s second-largest economy and the implications for investors of the Federal Reserve rate rise. The selection is taken from our Markets Insight and Smart Money columns, written by industry contributors and FT commentators. Investors may be wary of being burnt by China but the drumbeat of bullish noises […]
It has been almost five years to the day since Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji took over as head of Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, restructuring several investment interests and making other changes to whip the fund into shape after years of losses. It followed a term at Gulf Air in which he managed the national carrier’s controversial restructure that saw 15 percent of its staff, around 600 […]
Last weekend, after looking at the latest H.8 statement by the Fed, we noted something concerning: total loans and leases by U.S. commercial banks were rising at an annual pace of about 4.6%, based on weekly Fed data. That is down from a 6.4% pace for all of last year and peak rates of around 8% in mid-2016. This is the slowest pace of debt creation since […]
UAE-based Aster DM Healthcare is in discussions with its banks to change some terms of a syndicated loan to counter difficult business conditions, including delays to payments it is owed, sources familiar with the matter said. The company, which operates hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in the Gulf and India, raised a multi-tranche syndicated loan equivalent to about AED600 million ($163 million) in March last year, Thomson Reuters […]
Government of Dubai Media Office, 19 March 2017 Chairperson of the International Humanitarian City (IHC) HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, today opened the IHC’s Members Global Meeting organized by its newly appointed CEO and leading logistics expert, Giuseppe Saba, under the theme ‘ONE for Humanity’. Attending […]
By Michael Nienaber | BADEN-BADEN BADEN-BADEN The failure of the world’s financial leaders to agree on resisting protectionism and support free trade marks a setback in the G20 process and poses a risk for growth of export-driven economies such as host Germany, economists said on Sunday. Acquiescing to an increasingly protectionist United States after a two-day meeting in the German town of Baden-Baden, the finance ministers and […]
Here are the big questions for markets and investors as a new trading week beckons. Does a measured Fed risk being left behind by inflation?After a barrage of central bank meetings, Brexit angst and the first major European election for the year, market volatility across bonds and equities remains quiescent. Having been primed for a more aggressive Federal Reserve and wary of polls being wrong ahead of […]
With GCC governments placing so much emphasis on start-ups as the backbone of a stronger, non-oil based economy, people would be forgiven for thinking it was all about quantity over quality. In fact, in an interview two years ago, a senior official at Abu Dhabi government leading on the UAE’s ‘Takamul’ patenting initative, came right out and said it. He told Arabian Business that the quality of […]
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the Social Media Week in Kuala Lumpur, April 23, 2015. ― Picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) will not be airing the live telecast of a debate between former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh […]
By Tracy Rucinski | CHICAGO CHICAGO A U.S. judge formally approved Peabody Energy Corp’s (BTUUQ.PK) plan to emerge from bankruptcy late Friday after the coal producer struck a settlement with the U.S. government over legacy environmental claims at a gold and metal mining subsidiary. Under a last-minute deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, Peabody agreed to create a $43 million trust to manage environmental liabilities stemming […]
German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd on Friday postponed the completion date for its takeover of United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) to May 31 from March 31, but said the deal, worth 7 to 8 billion euros ($7.52-8.60 billion), was not at risk. All merger clearances and regulatory approvals and all necessary banking approvals from Hapag’s side have been obtained as have most banking approvals from Dubai-based UASC’s side, […]
For the first time ever, new research examines data from the 2007-2009 financial crisis to show how the US Federal Reserve can effectively assist banks in times of financial uncertainty. (via WSJ)
Brazil’s coffee farmers, struggling with the effect of last year’s drought, have turned to another black commodity — pepper. In a desperate search for an alternative source of income, an increasing number of growers in the state of Espirito Santo, the key producer of the lower-quality coffee robusta beans, have switched to black pepper, whose price more than tripled between 2009 and 2015. “Four years ago, we […]
18 March 2017 Beirut – Beirut Traders Association and Bankmed released the results of “Beirut Traders Association – Bankmed Investment Index,” for the fourth quarter of 2016. The index, which is backed by the technical support of the Central Administration of Statistics in Lebanon, aims at assessing the reality of the wholesale sector in Lebanon. The index reflects the investment climate in Lebanon, shedding light on the […]
PARIS Eleven people have received the 500 endorsements from elected officials needed in order to run in the first round of the French presidential elections on April 23. The top two will qualify for a run-off on May 7. The Constitutional Council announced the final list on Saturday. NATALIE ARTHAUD, 46, WORKERS’ STRUGGLE Economics professor who runs for the far-left Trotskyist party. Wants the voice of the […]
Jumeirah Central, Dubai’s upcoming new urban mixed-use district, is already attracting “significant interest” from international investors, according to a senior executive. The mega project, which has no deadline for completion yet, will make its international debut at MIPIM 2017, the annual gathering of the world’s most influential international property players being held in Paris. Master planned by Dubai Holding, Jumeirah Central is already attracting significant interest from […]
A security researcher has published a way to gain the highest level of a network’s access — without needing a password. Alexander Korznikov said in a blog post that a privileged user, such as a local administrator with system rights and permissions, can use built-in command line tools to hijack the session of another logged-in user who has higher privileges. He said that if that other logged-in […]
Forced applause usually follows a regulator’s remarks to the regulated. Not so inside the pink stucco walls of the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida this week. Chris Giancarlo of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission received a standing ovation when he spoke to hundreds of traders, brokers and exchange executives. The enthusiastic response reflects hopes in the derivatives industry for a better relationship with the CFTC, its principal […]
By Allison Lampert | MONTREAL MONTREAL Bombardier Inc would suffer “irreparable harm” to its global reputation if it loses a light train contract from a Toronto transportation agency, a senior company official said in recent court filings. The Canadian plane and train maker, which is fighting to save the C$770 million ($573 million) contract with Toronto’s Metrolinx, will seek an injunction on March 21 to prevent […]
Prices for bonds sold by the Netherlands and France fell on Thursday, reversing early gains as Dutch voters rejected rightwing populism and opted for the status quo in an election regarded as a litmus test for Europe’s political future. Dutch and French sovereign debt initially outperformed German Bunds as investors reacted to news that the anti-EU populist Geert Wilders’ PVV party had fallen short of expectations. However, […]
Written by Ritu Sarin | New Delhi | Updated: March 16, 2017 10:32 am Image for representational purposes. Nearly a year after The Indian Express published the Panama Papers, tax authorities have succeeded in obtaining 165 replies — partial or complete — from among 13 jurisdictions where Indian nationals had incorporated offshore companies through the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. According to data made available at the latest […]
