Bloomberg The UK Financial Conduct Authority is setting up interviews with Barclays Plc executives as part of its investigation into Jes Staley’s attempts to unmask a whistle-blower, according to three people with knowledge of the requests. The FCA is planning to interview officials including Mike Ashley, the board member who supervises whistle-blowing complaints and Chief Operating Officer Paul Compton, in …

Bloomberg Bad debts at Indian lenders, especially state-run banks, have climbed to a 15-year high and may increase further, a central bank study showed. Under the baseline scenario in a ‘macro stress test,’ the industry’s gross bad-loan ratio may increase to 10.2 percent by March 2018 after climbing to 9.6 percent in March 2017, the highest since 2002, according to …

Bloomberg Venezuela’s “hunger bonds” are now on the market. Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which purchased $2.8 billion of the notes issued by the nation’s state oil company in a controversial transaction in May, began selling some of its holdings over the past few days to create liquidity, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Multiple Wall Street banks are …

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways on Saturday introduced an Airbus A380 aircraft on one of its two daily services between Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The new service has been introduced early to meet seasonal demand from July 1 to October 28 and December 15 to February 15, …

Bloomberg Kuwait Airways Co. is considering adding a flight to Washington, D.C., or Chicago despite mounting US travel restrictions, as the Gulf carrier revives long-standing efforts to better compete with its more prosperous regional rivals. The additions, which could also include new service to Seoul; Manchester, England; Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; or airports in China, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, are part of …

Bloomberg Nike Inc. rallied the most in almost two years after the athletic brand delivered a rosy forecast and announced plans to forge a closer relationship with shoppers, a move that will let Amazon and Instagram users buy its sneakers directly. The athletic brand expects sales to increase by a mid- to high-single-digit percentage this year, excluding currency effects. The …

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. will join other US carriers in reducing flights to Cuba, saying laws that restrict Americans from travelling to the island for tourism are constraining demand. Southwest becomes the latest airline to accept that the industry, with little way to judge demand beforehand, was too optimistic when US regulators allowed passenger routes to the island nation last …

Bloomberg The difficulties facing Britain’s non-food retailers were laid bare Tuesday in gloomy reports from department-store group Debenhams Plc and floorcoverings seller Carpetright Plc. Debenhams, the operator of 250 stores across 27 countries, said full-year earnings could be at the low end of analysts’ estimates should current market volatility persist. Carpetright, which runs 426 outlets in the U.K. alone, reported …

DUBAI / AGENCIES The UAE’s AED522 billion Islamic banking assets will help fuel the growth of the country’s Halal sector, according to a research conducted by Orange Fairs and Events, organisers of the Halal Expo – Dubai, 2017. Seven Islamic banks out of the 23 registered commercial banks in the UAE represent nearly a fifth of the country’s banking assets. …

DUBAI / WAM The Executive Team of the Global Innovation Index held its 4th meeting of the current year at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy in Dubai, to examine the results of yearly report for 2017, where the UAE has achieved an important leap in its general ranking on the Index by six places compared to last year’s …