Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, as expected, providing policy stability to investors days before the nation’s first election since a military coup five years ago. The Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hold its policy rate at 1.75 percent, the Bank of Thailand said in a statement on Wednesday, in line with ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG was fined a record 28 million pounds ($37 million) by a UK regulator for failings related to 136 million transaction reports between 2007 and 2017. UBS didn’t provide complete and accurate information in connection with about 87 million reportable transactions, and filed reports on another 49 million that weren’t required, the Financial Conduct Authority said in ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Italy’s second-highest official is said to have told staff that he won’t be available for a new term, according to two people familiar with the situation, a further development in the tense relations between the central bank and the populist government. Director General Salvatore Rossi told staff in a letter that he will leave as soon ...

Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA’s reliance on the fuel-saving Boeing Co 737 Max to underpin its ultra low-cost trans-Atlantic strategy has exposed the loss-making carrier as the most vulnerable in Europe to the worldwide grounding of the plane. Norwegian was among the earliest adopters of the new narrow-body, using its extra range to launch services on Europe-US routes traditionally dominated ...

Bloomberg Hermes International has become the latest fashion industry victim of men’s casual dress, signalling weakness in its silk business as neckties lose their allure. Revenue from silk and textiles rose 3 percent in 2018, the slowest growth of the French luxury-goods maker’s business units. CEO Axel Dumas said on Wednesday the company has been shifting production to adjust to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump named former airline executive Stephen Dickson to run the Federal Aviation Administration as the agency faces scrutiny for its role in approving the Boeing Co 737 Max for service before two fatal crashes of the jetliner. The FAA administrator job has been vacant since Michael Huerta, who had been appointed by President Barack Obama, stepped down ...

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd is doubling down on mining customer data. The airline is logging the travel habits of lucrative business-class flyers, such as when they want their seat laid flat, in a bid to individually tailor flights for them, Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg said in an interview in Singapore. Cathay seeks to track 23 categories of behaviour ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia plans to pour 86 billion riyals ($23 billion) into beautifying its capital, Riyadh, with projects expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and provide new leisure opportunities in the city. In addition to the kingdom’s investment, the projects will create opportunities for $15 billion in private sector financing, the government said. Preliminary design work is under ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The Middle East and North Africa’s (Mena) data centre spend will reach a record-high of nearly $5 billion in 2019, industry experts said, as organisations drive data centre modernisation as the foundation of their digital transformation. Organisations are modernising data centre infrastructure to optimise costs, increase agility, foster innovation, and operate more efficiently, argues the UAE-based ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Ministry of Economy discussed the means of developing the economic relations between the UAE and the United States (US), as well as their overall cooperation, especially in the area of standards and metrology and their commercial application. Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Foreign Trade Sector of the Ministry of Economy, explained that ...