News

  Athens / AFP Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said reform talks with the country’s EU-IMF creditors, delayed by disagreements over pension cuts and bad loans, could conclude by May 1. “I believe the target I have specified, to conclude (the talks) by Orthodox Easter (on May 1)… is feasible,” Tsipras told state television ERT. “We are on the verge, I ...

  Bloomberg Banks and asset managers moved closer to winning easier rules for derivatives as European Union member states signaled support for amending regulations as part of a delay in the wider law that revamps oversight of trading across the continent. EU states are considering attaching the policy changes to legislation postponing until January 2018 the vast MiFID II law ...

  AFP Germany’s healthcare system is losing as much as a billion euros a year to scammers, some of whom are linked to the Russian mafia, according to a media report on Sunday. One scam involves health workers who charge for 24-hour care but are alleged to only check on their patients two or three times a day, said the ...

  Bloomberg Banks around Europe are trying to figure out how to provide their services to asylum seekers while making sure they stick to strict rules blocking money laundering & terror financing. By compelling banks to verify the identity of their customers, the requirements make it harder for would-be refugees without a valid ID to open a bank account. Without ...

  Dubai / WAM With the GCC tripling its production capacity between the 2004-2015 period, petrochemical producers in the region must focus on supply chain efficiencies in order to retain export market share, said the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), ahead of the Supply Chain Conference in May. Regional chemical output in plastics, fertilisers and other products are chiefly ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business As a leading financial institution, Mashreq continues to be recognised for its exceptional banking products and services at the 2016 Banker Middle East Product Awards, winning four awards in two categories: “Best Mobile Banking Service – Snapp”; “Best Premium Credit Card – Solitaire”; “Best Trade Finance Offering – Trade Finance (Business Banking)” and “Best Real ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Trade, the premier cross-border trade facilitator, has revealed substantial growth in the number of companies registered and the value of transactions carried out in 2015. There were 113,354 companies registered with Dubai Trade, with over 19.5 million transactions during the year, 5 percent up on 2014. Dubai Trade’s secured ePayment gateway “Rosoom” recorded 1.1million ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Al Gharbia Pipe Company, a joint venture between Senaat, one of the largest industrial holding companies in the UAE, and two of Japan’s leading companies in the steel sector; JFE Steel Corporation and Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. (MISI), has broken ground in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad). Al Gharbia will be the UAE’s ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Ducab, the UAE-based leading manufacturer of high-quality cables and cabling products, is demonstrating how industrial solutions answer real-world problems at the Think Science Competition Exhibition. The fourth edition of the competition and exhibition, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of Emirates Foundation, ...

Kuala Lumpur / Bloomberg Malaysia will meet its economic expansion target this year even as risks to global growth mount and greater volatility may persist in capital flows, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said. Price pressures are “quite contained” due to lower fuel and commodity costs and slightly slower demand, Zeti said in an interview in Washington. Until there ...