ABU DHABI / WAM Al Hilal Bank is the first Islamic bank in the world to leverage blockchain technology for the resale and settlement of an Islamic sukuk. Blockchain was used to transact a secondary market deal in Al Hilal Bank’s $500 million senior sukuk maturing in September 2023. This was the first time that block-chain has been used worldwide …

Bloomberg Plans in Australia to import gas to ease a supply squeeze may fail to bring down domestic prices as it pits the nation against some of the world’s biggest buyers for supplies. Australia finds itself in the odd position of having to consider four projects to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) while simultaneously being on track to become the …

Bloomberg President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is pursuing the sale of Brazil’s deep-sea treasure-trove of oil, but just weeks after his election he’s facing the same political obstacles as his two predecessors. While Bolsonaro’s transition team argues the sale could net some $30 billion to help plug fiscal deficits, a squabble over how to divvy up the spoils between various states and …

Bloomberg An influential panel of lawmakers in UK parliament is encouraging the government to develop hydrogen as a way to provide a green form of heat for industry and homes. The Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government on energy and environmental policies, said ministers should write a strategy for removing carbon emissions from heat in the next three …

Bloomberg Oil rose from its lowest settlement in more than a year in New York. Futures added 1.7 percent, after slumping 7.7 percent. Saudi Arabia is pumping as much as 11.2 million barrels of crude a day, the most since the kingdom extracted its first oil eight decades ago, according to a person familiar with the matter. Theb West Texas …

Bloomberg Justin Trudeau’s federal budget update stirred some anger in Canada’s oil-rich West. Alberta’s Finance Minister Joe Ceci, while welcoming corporate tax breaks announced, said he was disappointed that the urgent need to ease a dramatic crude-shipping glut and price crash wasn’t addressed. The tax changes that will allow businesses to write off capital investments more quickly will help oil …

Bloomberg London’s biggest office landlords face an unprecedented situation: a political fork in the road that could send the real estate market in polar opposite directions. Developers such as Land Securities Group Plc, British Land Co and Great Portland Estates Plc bet on the way the market will look years in the future when they green light plans to buy …

Bloomberg Beaten-down tech shares led the rebound in US stocks, while Treasuries fell as investors gained confidence from positive political developments in Europe and rising oil prices. The S&P 500 Index rallied back from its worst week in a month amid signs of progress in two standoffs that have continually rattled markets — Italy’s fiscal woes and Brexit. The 10-year …

Bloomberg Bitcoin miners hit hard by the cryptocurrency’s crash may be throwing in the towel. The Bitcoin network’s hash rate, one way of gauging the computing power dedicated to mining the digital currency, dropped about 24 percent from an all-time high at the end of August through November 24, according to Blockchain.com. While the decline may have partially resulted from …

Bloomberg Greece’s Eurobank Ergasias SA isn’t waiting around for a state rescue, with a plan to sell about 7 billion euros ($8 billion) of troubled loans and merge with a real estate fund. The shares soared, leading the country’s banking index higher. As part of the plan, the bank will merge with real estate fund Grivalia Properties REIC to create …