Bloomberg BP Plc has emerged as the front-runner to buy BHP Billiton Ltd.’s onshore oil and gas operations in the US, acco- rding to a person familiar with the matter. The London-based oil major has made the highest offer for the assets, which BHP prefers selling in a single package, said the person, who asked to not be identified because …

Bloomberg Thailand’s finance minister said the nation can refrain from raising its policy interest rate as the currency has weakened at a slower pace than peers and capital outflows are unlikely to pose a major risk. The baht’s recent drop will help boost incomes for the 30 million Thais in the farm sector, Apisak Tantivorawong said in an interview. The …

Bloomberg South African lender VBS Mutual Bank, which collapsed in March, paid senior officials at the Public Investment Corp. (PIC) to fast-track funding for the lender, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times said, citing an affidavit by the bank’s former head of treasury Phophi Mukhodobwane. The bank’s former treasurer was instructed to deliver a suitcase filled with 5 million rand to a …