Bloomberg As the price of oil stays stubbornly low, investors in the Middle East are turning to deals. Mergers and acquisitions activity in the Gulf region is set to accelerate as lower oil prices force governments and corporations to consolidate fragmented industries, according to Bank of America Corp. (BofA) “The drop in oil prices has made people in the …

  Bloomberg Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. expects to end its five-year dividend drought in early 2017 as it’s “very close” to clearing the main regulatory hurdle standing in its way, Chief Executive Officer Rakefet Russak-Aminoach said. The Bank of Israel requires lenders to meet a Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.25 percent by Jan. 1. The Tier 1 ratio is …

  Bloomberg Global banking regulators are sticking to their guns on capital standards in the face of intense European pressure to soften planned rule-changes. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will wrap up work on the post-crisis capital framework on schedule by the end of the year, William Coen, the regulator’s secretary general, said. Key elements criticized by European Union …