News

  Bloomberg Singapore’s central bank said it will allow foreign takeovers of the country’s three finance companies, as part of wider industry changes that seek to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is prepared to consider applications for mergers or acquisitions if any prospective partner “commits to maintaining SME financing as a core business” ...

  Bloomberg A crippled spillway is threatening to submerge an entire region of northern California after a recent deluge of rain. And the state’s power market may already be feeling it. As state officials rush to repair an emergency spillway for the Oroville dam — just 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of San Francisco — an 819-megawatt hydropower plant, capable ...

  Bloomberg Williams Cos. is following through on a promise to unload assets and double down in a region of the U.S. where natural gas production is still booming: the Marcellus shale formation. On Thursday, the master-limited pipeline partnership controlled by Williams Cos. said it had struck a deal with Western Gas Partners LP to exchange its 50 percent stake ...

  Reuters Russian crude imports to China have risen in early 2017 as the country’s independent, or teapot, refiners have expanded their diet to include the Urals grade, trade sources said on Tuesday. Russia could expand its market share in China, the second-largest oil consumer, this year after a drop in Brent prices relative to Middle East crude benchmark Dubai ...

  Bloomberg It’s not just US President Donald Trump who’s bullish on infrastructure investing. Mutual and exchange-traded funds dedicated to building and upgrading roads, bridges, airports and other projects attracted more than $450 million from November through January, the biggest three-month period in almost two years, according to Morningstar Inc. The inflows reversed redemptions during 15 of the 16 months ...

  Bloomberg Britain should consider linking with China or California on climate policy and emissions trading after leaving the European Union, according to a panel of lawmakers. “Repatriating environmental law to the UK will be an immensely complicated task,” said Robin Teverson, chairman of the House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee. “We are not convinced that the government ...

  Bloomberg PSA Group, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, is exploring an acquisition of General Motors Co.’s European business in a deal that would transform the region’s automotive landscape. The French carmaker is in talks on numerous strategic initiatives, including the possible acquisition of Opel, a PSA spokesman said by phone after Bloomberg reported the talks earlier on ...

  Bloomberg Say what you will about Donald Trump’s economic prescriptions, it’s hard to argue he hasn’t been a boon for corporate sentiment. A looming question for investors is how that buoyancy will translate when it comes to business spending. Words of optimism are multiplying — literally. Executives used the word “optimistic” on a record 51 percent of earnings calls ...

  Bloomberg ‘House of Cards’ needs more room. Netflix Inc., the streaming service that’s home to the political drama, last month leased an entire five-story office building in Hollywood, less than three months after signing a decade-long deal for adjacent stages and production offices, bringing its total space in the Sunset Bronson Studios complex to more than 500,000 square feet ...

  Bloomberg British technology startups are beginning to stress out over Brexit. Initially confident their industry wouldn’t be harmed by Britain’s break from the European Union, UK tech entrepreneurs are now girding for a bevy of challenges. A poll of 940 startup executives in the UK and other nations found that Brexit, which is set to be triggered in March, ...