Bloomberg Turning Canada’s heavy oil sands into a more marketable kind of crude is making a comeback, or rather half a comeback. Alberta’s government’s C$1 billion dollar pledge ($780 million) will help support the construction of smaller and cheaper varieties of upgraders. The so-called partial upgraders would process the sticky oil just enough so that it can flow freely through …

Bloomberg China is giving its central bank the power to write the rules for the financial sector, as part of a swee-ping overhaul aimed at closing regulatory loopholes and curbing risk in the $43 trillion banking and insurance industries. The China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission will be mer-ged in the biggest industry overhaul since 2003. …

Bloomberg India’s HDFC Bank Ltd., the world’s most-expensive lender, has appointed arrangers including Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group AG for a 155 billion rupee ($2.38 billion) planned share sale, people with knowledge of the matter said. The lender has also appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co., Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd., IIFL Holdings Ltd. and JM Financial …

Bloomberg Ghana’s Energy Commercial Bank Ltd plans to raise about 330 million cedis ($75 million) through an initial public offering as the lender prepares to meet the regulator’s new threshold for capital requirements. The share sale will start next month, with IC Securities Ltd acting as the transaction adviser for the rights issue, Charles Nixon Yeboah, a spokesman for the …

Bloomberg Digital currencies are a revolutionary tool that central banks should consider, but they remain far too risky to be used as legal tender any time soon, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The BIS — the club of the world’s largest central banks — said in a report that the new form of money could one day be …

Bloomberg The case is strengthening for Norwegian central bank policy makers to soon raise interest rates for the first time in seven years. Economic growth is accelerating, oil prices are up, unemployment is nearing rock-bottom levels and central banks around the world are starting to withdraw stimulus. At the same time, the government this month decided to lower the inflation …

Bloomberg Government-imposed caps on commercial interest rates risk destroying Kenya’s banking industry unless they’re addressed soon, the head of the country’s biggest lender said. KCB Group Plc wants the ceiling raised to more than the current 400 basis-point limit above official rates, an easier route than seeking a repeal of the law in parliament, Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Kimathi said …

Bloomberg India took the drastic measure of grounding all Airbus SE narrow-body planes powered by the latest Pratt & Whitney engines, removing the aircraft from the country’s skies after a series of in-flight incidents. A320neos with even one Pratt engine featuring a seal found to cause vibrations are no longer allowed to fly, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said …

Bloomberg Trump Hotels is looking to expand beyond its regular business to managing lodging properties under brands other than its own. The first step in that direction may be running a hotel linked to the president’s son-in-law. The company founded by Donald Trump is in talks to manage a planned hotel in Long Branch, New Jersey, that is under development …

Bloomberg South African Airways is striving to return to profit in three years by reducing the size of the network and transferring planes to its low-cost carrier as Chief Executive Officer Vuyani Jarana embarks on a recovery plan. A turnaround of the state-owned airline is among the more urgent priorities of newly appointed Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, who is seeking …