Bloomberg Australian investors are set to receive a boost in dividend payouts this month as companies rush to avoid a looming overhaul of tax rules if there’s a change of government. The main opposition Labor party, which is favorite to win elections expected in May, is pledging to tighten so-called franking rules, under which shareholders reduce their overall tax liability. ...

Bloomberg Indonesia is set to make halal labeling mandatory for consumer products and services this year with the government assuming greater control of the certifying process from the Muslim-majority nation’s Islamic cleric council. Issuing halal certificates to consumer goods from shampoos to toothpaste and cosmetics may net the government about 22.5 trillion rupiah ($1.6 billion) in annual revenue, said Sukoso, ...

Bloomberg Europe’s push to scrap use of coal as a power generation fuel could make Fortum Oyj think twice before launching a bid for a full takeover of Uniper SE, one of the continent’s biggest burners of the dirtiest fossil fuel. Fortum, which owns a 49.99 percent stake in Uniper, said it had ended its long-running feud with the German ...

Bloomberg The UK cancelled a 13.8 million pound ($18 million) contract with Seaborne Freight, a startup company that doesn’t own any ships, to deliver backup ferry service in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Lawmakers had criticized the contract award. The deal was scrapped when “it became clear Seaborne would not reach its contractual requirements with the government,” the Department ...

Bloomberg Alector Inc. raised $176 million in the first US initial public offering without a fixed share price since the government shutdown all but froze the market. The biotechnology company said in a statement that it sold 9.25 million shares at $19 each, the midpoint of the marketed range of $18 to $20. The share sale gives the company a ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc managers have weighed alternatives to locating a corporate campus in New York City after local officials opposed the plan, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some people involved in the planning for Amazon’s East Coast expansion have discussed whether to pare back the New York plans, said the people, who asked not to be identified ...

Bloomberg The US is seeking support for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Venezuela’s government for blocking humanitarian aid from entering the country and calling on President Nicolas Maduro to hold new elections. The draft resolution calls for the “immediate start of a political process leading to free, fair, and credible presidential elections,” according to a copy of the ...

Bloomberg Congressional negotiators dug in for a weekend of talks on a security plan that includes some sort of barrier on the US-Mexican border, hoping to complete a deal to avert another government shutdown that’s also acceptable to President Donald Trump. Trump was back in the fray, indicating in a tweet that if Democrats didn’t give him all the wall ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May wants more time to renegotiate her Brexit deal with the European Union and in return is promising lawmakers a further chance to take control of the process before the clock runs out, according to an official with knowledge of her plans. With a vote due February 14 and no prospect of agreement, May will ...

Bloomberg An Indian state lawmaker was shot dead in West Bengal amid rising tensions between the provincial and federal governments. Satyajit Biswas, who belonged to the state’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress party, was shot by assailants near his home on Saturday night, the Times of India reported, citing the police. The Trinamool Congress said on Twitter the death was ...