Bloomberg Commonwealth Bank of Australia is being sued by the nation’s securities regulator for allegedly rigging the benchmark bank-bill swap rate, adding to legal problems for the nation’s largest lender. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission said it began legal proceedings on Tuesday in the Federal Court in Melbourne, alleging the bank engaged in “unconscionable conduct and market manipulation” between ...

Bloomberg Morocco may need anything from five to 15 years to fully float the dirham, with further currency liberalisation dependent on other reforms including strengthening the country’s export base and reducing the current-account deficit, central bank Governor Abdellatif Jouahri said. Policymakers finally eased their grip on the dirham on January 15, allowing the currency to trade 2.5 percent above or ...

Bloomberg JAB Holding Co.’s audacious effort to build a food-and-beverage empire, which already includes Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Caribou Coffee, has taken a surprise turn into soft drinks. The investment firm’s Keurig Green Mountain Inc. business, known for its single-serve coffee brewers, agreed to take control of Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. The deal will pay $18.7 billion in cash ...

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc recognised the union representing its UK pilots, reaching its first formal labour agreement in the discount airline’s history. The 600 UK pilots directly employed by the carrier will be represented by the British Airlines’ Pilots Association, Ryanair said in a statement. All 15 of its bases in the market—the company’s biggest—have also voted to accept management’s ...

Bloomberg China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Xiamen Airlines Co. cancelled 176 additional flights to Taiwan after failing to gain approval from the island’s authorities amid an escalating dispute between the two governments. The flights are a newest sticking point between China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a province to be reunited with the mainland. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whose ruling ...

Bloomberg EasyJet Plc’s newly hired chief executive officer is taking a pay cut to match the salary of his predecessor, Carolyn McCall, as the discount airline joins UK-wide efforts to reduce the national gender gap in remuneration. Johan Lundgren’s salary, originally set at 740,000 pounds ($1.04 million), will be reduced 4.6 percent to the 706,000 pounds earned by McCall in ...

ABU DHABI / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s leading and safest financial institutions, reported its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2017. FAB delivered a resilient performance in a transitional year with a full year 2017 group net profit at AED10.92 billion ($3 billion), compared to AED11.32 ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business A buoyant GCC Bond and Sukuk market achieved an all-time high issuance of $70 billion in 2017, with sustained investor appetite expected in 2018, according to a co-authored white paper from Emirates NBD Asset Management (Dubai) and Fisch Asset Management (Zurich). The paper, titled “The GCC Fixed Income Market: Then and Now” identifies key themes in ...

DUBAI / WAM To mark Data Privacy Day, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has emphasised the importance of protecting personal data for financial transactions, in light of the digital revolution and the increasing global trends to protect individuals from the misuse of their personal information or violation of their privacy. Younis Haji Al Khoori, Under-Secretary at MoF, highlighted that standards ...

Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued Law No. 01 of 2018 on the Knowledge Dirham Fee, and Law No. 02 of 2018 about the Innovation Dirham Fee. As per Law No. 01 of 2018, the Knowledge Dirham Fee will be levied on all transactions ...