Bloomberg Many Latvians got a shock this summer when they were informed their bank accounts risked being blocked if they didn’t hand over details of their citizenship, financial plans and any ties to high-level politics. Demands to fill out online questionnaires were dispatched by lenders at the behest of financial regulators, who’ve been battling the Baltic nation’s reputation as ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Private sector companies in Dubai experienced another strong improvement in business conditions during September. This was highlighted by the seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index posting 55.1, down fractionally from 55.7 in August but still well above the 50.0 no-change threshold. On average in the third quarter of 2016, the headline index signalled ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, announced the launch of its ‘Reading Box’ initiative that hold its first event at The Dubai Mall. This interactive public initiative will run across Dubai from October 11 – 24 in support of the UAE Government’s Year of Reading ...

  Emirates Business DarkMatter, an international cyber security firm headquartered in the UAE, announces that its cyber governance and risk expert, Harshul Joshi, will participate in a Dubai Future Accelerators panel discussion entitled, “Cybersecurity in a Smart City”. The session will take place from 7-8pm on October 12 at the Dubai Future Accelerators auditorium in the Jumeirah Emirates Towers offices. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business A majority of the accidents in the workplace are caused due to either a poorly trained or supervised workforce or badly-equipped workers, according to a senior Dubai Municipality official, who was speaking at the recent BOHS Worker Health Protection Conference held in Abu Dhabi recently. Raed Al Marzouqi, Head of Occupational Health and Safety at ...

  Bloomberg Oil supply and demand could come back into balance earlier than expected next year if OPEC’s agreement to curb output is implemented, the International Energy Agency said. “Our supply-demand outlook suggests that the market — if left to its own devices — may remain in oversupply through the first half of next year,” the IEA said Tuesday. “If ...

  Bloomberg Oil fell from a 15-month high amid uncertainty over whether Russia would join an OPEC deal to curb supply. Futures fell as much as 1.4 percent in New York after climbing 3.1 percent Monday. Russia’s biggest producer Rosneft PJSC said it won’t reduce output, according to Reuters, after President Vladimir Putin said his country is willing to join ...

  Bloomberg Russia and Turkey agreed to build a natural-gas pipeline under the Black Sea that could be up and running by the end of 2019, capitalizing on a recent improvement in relations between the two nations. Approval for Turkish Stream — a dual pipeline project consisting of one link serving the Turkish market and another one possibly to southern ...

  Reuters The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) plans to finalize several new standards by the end of the year, as the standard-setting body works through a revamp of its guidance for the $2 trillion industry. Bahrain-based AAOIFI has published a draft sharia standard for gold-based products with a one month consultation period ending Nov. 9, ...

  Reuters A joint venture of HaskoningDHV UK and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co has been awarded a contract to design the infrastructure for the Ras Al Khair maritime yard in Saudi Arabia, a statement from the firms said on Tuesday. The duo, based in the Netherlands and South Korea, have been awarded the front-end engineering design contract, with the ...