Bloomberg European banks pared their exposure to Britain in the aftermath of its vote to quit the European Union, slashing their UK assets by $425 billion in the span of a year. The decline was driven by a 35 percent drop in derivatives exposures, showing European banks are preparing for the risk that the UK fails to reach an agreement ...

Bloomberg For proof that taking on political risk is a winning formula in Europe this year, look no further than Pimco’s wager on Spanish unity. The California fund manager has amassed the largest position of Catalonia’s $6 billion of junk-rated debt, undeterred by a raucous independence movement and a snap election next month that may produce another victory for separatist ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has opened a representative office in Abu Dhabi, making it the only Iraqi Trade Finance bank to have a presence in the UAE. The wholly government owned bank, which holds 80% market share in Iraq, has established its first international office at Abu Dhabi Global Market on Al Maryah Island. ...

Bloomberg Not all bankers need to fear the march of the robots. Nordea Bank AB, which last month said it will need to cut 6,000 jobs as part of a process to become a more digital firm, is now offering some insight into who’s likely to be hardest hit. Ewan MacLeod, Nordea’s chief digital officer, says customers should expect to ...

Bloomberg A $2.2 trillion superbank is feeling the pinch of China’s bond slump. The yield on China Development Bank’s 10-year bonds surged past 5 percent, bringing the rise this quarter to about 70 basis points. More striking has been the jump in its premium over government debt with a similar maturity, given that the state-owned lender is a so-called policy ...

Bloomberg Spain will have a backup plan in place to shield its tourism industry from any disruption to air travel caused by Brexit regardless of the outcome of talks between the UK and the European Union, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Jorge Toledo said. Airlines tend to make their flight plans one year advance, so Spain still has about four ...

Bloomberg Travellers flying long-haul from Britain in private planes and the premium cabins of jetliners will foot the bill for freezing departure taxes in coach, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said. The UK Treasury will increase so-called air passenger duty for business- and first-class passengers by 16 pounds ($21) to 172 pounds, while lifting the fee for private journeys ...

Bloomberg Will this year’s Black Friday finally spark a sustained retail comeback? While the answer remains to be seen, the sellers of outerwear and gadgets such as Apple AirPods and the Sony Playstation VR have reason to be encouraged. Those were some of the hottest sellers so far during the Black Friday weekend, the traditional kickoff to the holiday season. ...

Bloomberg At the entrance of Bergdorf Goodman, one of the world’s glitziest department stores, the morning after Thanksgiving, a store associate puts a few Saint Laurent handbags on top a glass case. He pauses and looks at the dozen or so people gathered. “Up to 40 percent off,” he announces to the early birds. They gasp and start analysing the ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The combined value of the 22,680 active construction projects in the GCC has exceeded $2.43 trillion (AED8.91 trillion) in November 2017, according to latest GCC Construction Analytics report issued by BNC Network, the largest and most comprehensive project research and intelligence provider in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Of these the urban construction ...