Bloomberg The Trump administration is considering taking steps to limit the ability of states to block interstate gas pipelines and other energy projects, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. The effort, possibly done through an executive order, is aimed chiefly at states in the Northeast US, where opposition to pipeline projects has helped prevent abundant shale gas in …

Bloomberg Oil explorers expanded drilling in US fields for the first time this year as rising crude prices buoyed optimism. The number of rigs targeting oil in the country rose by 10 this week to 862, according to data released by oilfield-services provider Baker Hughes. The hike only partially reversed the worst setback for American exploration in almost three years. …

Bloomberg First came a sweeping government crackdown and a surge in defaults and failures at thousands of China’s peer-to-peer lenders. Now, in another troubling sign for the industry, some of the biggest investment banks have stopped taking them public. Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc walked away from US initial public offerings of Chinese P2P …

Bloomberg Yi Huiman, a banking veteran who most recently chaired China’s largest lender, was named head of the country’s securities regulator, a role that puts him at the forefront of opening up the financial system to overseas firms. Yi, 54, will replace Liu Shiyu, who ran the China Securities Regulatory Commission for three years, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, citing …

Bloomberg Cerberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners filed an 11th hour joint bid for a minority stake in ailing German lender NordLB, people familiar with the offer said. The rival private equity investors decided at the last moment to team up, submitting an undisclosed offer for 49.8 percent of the core assets of the regional wholesale bank after last night’s …

Bloomberg South Korea’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged in the face of rising risks while pushing back against suggestions it may lower borrowing costs before too long. All but one of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast the Bank of Korea would keep the seven-day repurchase rate at 1.75 percent, while one projected a 25-basis-point cut. …

Bloomberg The Philippines central bank will remain cautious on inflation even as price gains eased from a nine-year high in the past two months and economic growth slowed to a three-year low in 2018. “Even as we continue to see abating pressures on prices, the BSP will remain vigilant and ready to employ monetary responses to keep prices stable and …

Bloomberg Airbus SE said it might be forced to move future investments out of the UK in the event of a no-deal divorce from the European Union, slamming the “madness” of Brexit supporters who assume the planemaker won’t abandon Britain. “If there is a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK,” …

Bloomberg British Airways parent IAG SA abandoned an eight-month pursuit of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, leaving the indebted discount airline reeling as it faces a cash crunch during the slow winter season. IAG “does not intend” to make a further bid and will be selling a 3.9 percent stake in due course, it said. Norwegian slumped as much as 26 …

Bloomberg For the beleaguered Russian consumer, this month’s return to work after the New Year holiday came with an extra dose of pain, as a tax increase pushed up prices across a raft of everyday goods. Consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level in two years, while research company Romir found that the average shopping bill shrunk for three …