Bloomberg More than half of global companies interested in doing business with Iran are holding back for fear of running afoul of sanctions that remain in place even after its nuclear deal with world powers, a new survey shows. Fifty-eight of 100 executives of U.K.-based international firms said they aren’t confident they know what precautions need to be taken ...

  Reuters Iran’s oil exports are set to surge in May, climbing nearly 60 percent from a year ago, with European shipments recovering to about half of pre-sanction levels, according to a source with knowledge of the country’s crude lifting plans. This shows Tehran is regaining market share at a faster pace than analysts had projected as it battles with ...

  Bloomberg Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is undergoing its biggest overhaul since 2014, grouping $100 billion of investments in local companies into a new unit and abandoning the Qatar Holding name synonymous with its highest-profile deals, people with knowledge of the matter said. About $100 billion of the Qatar Investment Authority’s stakes in companies such as Qatar Airways and Qatar ...

MANAMA / WAM Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, EDB, has said that it expects Bahrain’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, to grow by 2.9 per cent in 2016. EDB Chief Economist, Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, said that the forecast rate will enable Bahrain to maintain the same rate of economic growth which was achieved last year. The Bahrain News Agency, BNA, quoted Kotilaine ...

  AFP Spain and Portugal received unexpected reprieve to meet the EU limits on public deficits on Wednesday as Brussels delayed a decision to slap fines against the rule-breakers until July. The delay put off a potentially embarrassing decision for Spain until after elections on June 26 and gave more time for a new government in Portugal to get on ...

  Bloomberg The U.K. jobs market showed signs of cooling in the first quarter as Britain prepares for an increasingly bitter referendum on its European Union membership. The number of people in work rose by 44,000, less than a quarter of the gain seen at the end of 2015, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Wednesday. Unemployment ...

Bloomberg The Nokia brand is set to return to smartphones two years after the Finnish company sold its handset business amid competition from the iPhone and Android devices. Nokia Oyj will license its brand to a Helsinki-based company run by former Nokia executives to bring new mobile phones and tablets to the market. HMD Global Oy plans investments topping $500 ...

Bloomberg London Stock Exchange Group Plc and Deutsche Boerse AG said they will publish shareholder documents relevant to their planned merger in June. LSE shareholder meetings required in connection with the proposal to combine the exchange groups will take place in July, after U.K. citizens vote on Britain’s membership of the EU. The deadline for Deutsche Boerse shareholders to accept ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG responded to criticism from activist investor Chris Hohn with promises to improve profitability and review management pay, seeking to avoid a confrontation as criticism mounts in the wake of the emissions-cheating scandal. The German carmaker agrees with much of the investor’s analysis and is working on a strategy, including financial targets, that will be presented this ...

  Bloomberg Brexit campaigners crying out for Mark Carney to stop talking should get their wish granted next week. With just nine days until a pre-European Union referendum purdah period begins, the Bank of England governor has a few hurdles to jump in the fraught political race that’s dominated his agenda. After his most recent comments dragged him further into ...