Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is formulating hybrid, flexible work arrangements for its employees and doesn’t plan any “one-size-fits-all mandates” on how much time its staff will need to be in the offices when they reopen. “We believe that flexible and hybrid work models are here to stay, and that the role of the office has forever changed,” Chief ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co.’s average loans tumbled in the second quarter as consumers and businesses, buoyed by pandemic stimulus programs, refrained from more borrowing. The average balance of the bank’s lending book dropped 12% to $854.7 billion, according to a statement. The result mirrored a similar decline at Bank of America Corp, which said earlier that loans and leases ...

Bloomberg Pain is likely to come down fast and hard for any European company that doesn’t deliver this earnings season. At least, that’s the early read from a handful of names among the ones that have reported so far. Online-only fashion retailer Asos Plc saw almost a fifth of its market value wiped out in a single day on weaker ...

Bloomberg Asia’s two biggest economies are showing some signs of getting to grips with problems that weighed on their financial markets in the first half of the year, and that may bode well for their equities. That’s the view of UBS Global Wealth Management and Aberdeen Standard Investments Ltd, which cite encouraging earnings growth in China and a pickup in ...

Dubai / WAM The UAE has ranked among top 20 countries globally in the fixed broadband index with the fastest average download speeds in May, according to the latest data from Ookla, a global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications, data and analysis. “This global achievement is a testimony to UAE leadership’s vision and commitment in bringing ...

Bloomberg Oil declined the most this week since March as a resurgence of Covid-19 threatened the outlook for global fuel consumption in the near-term. Futures in New York edged up but settled 3.7% lower for the week. The rapidly spreading delta variant is triggering renewed restrictions on movement as it sweeps across the globe. The UK is considering stricter measures ...

Dubai / WAM The sharing of knowledge and expertise in agricultural and water technologies were top of the agenda during the visit of Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, to Israel, with the trip aligned with the historic opening of the UAE embassy in Tel Aviv. The visit, which Almheiri and her colleagues from the Food and ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) on Saturday signed a cooperation agreement to advance their partnership in healthcare, humanitarian and community fields. Establishing a framework for cooperation and coordination between the sides to bolster their programmes and provide a broader scale of healthcare services to beneficiaries, the agreement was signed ...

Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd. will buy a controlling stake in local search engine and e-commerce marketplace, Just Dial Ltd, for as much as $767 million as Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate looks to bolster its digital offerings. India’s most valuable company plans to acquire 66.95% stake in Just Dial through its arm, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. It will use a combination of ...

Sharjah / WAM Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) announced an increase in its operating profit before provisions by 25.6 percent, amounting to AED 417.3 million for the first six months, compared to AED 332.3 million for the same period of the previous year. Net profit amounts to AED 289.5 million for the six months period ended June 30 compared to AED ...