January, 2019

• 15 January

  Banks win break on trading-desk capital

  Bloomberg Big investment banks scored a victory in their campaign to soften global rules, as regulators reduced the capital hit from new trading-book standards by nearly half. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said its final market-risk standards will drive up banks’ trading-book capital requirements by a weighted average of about 22 percent from current levels. That’s down from the …

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• 15 January

  ‘Fed may not raise rates as much as projected’

  Bloomberg Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida left open the possibility the US central bank will raise interest rates in 2019 fewer than the two times projected by policy makers at their last meeting. “A lot has really happened since the first week of December,” Clarida said in an interview on Fox Business Network. “Some of the global growth data …

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• 15 January

  EIB sued over $69mn biomass loan

  

  Bloomberg The European Investment Bank (EIB) is being sued in the region’s second-highest court over a Spanish loan that climate lawyers contend will damage the environment. The suit is being brought by the not-for-profit environmental advocacy group ClientEarth, which wants European Union judges to determine whether the EIB breached its own renewable energy-financing criteria. The London-based group said it’s the …

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• 15 January

  India’s subdued inflation signals RBI policy U-turn

  Bloomberg India’s headline inflation edging towards the lower-end of the central bank’s target band has opened the door to interest-rate cuts in coming months. While rate swaps show investors are pricing no change in the benchmark repurchase rate for the next 12 months, the Reserve Bank of India may be forced to jettison its hawkish stance adopted five months ago …

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• 15 January

  Caution is the watchword for world’s top central banks

  

  Bloomberg Central banks enter the new year under pressure from investors to rethink just how aggressive they can be hiking interest rates. A slowdown in the world economy, the trade war and skittish financial markets are forcing policy makers including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to express fresh caution about their scope for tightening monetary policy. The People’s Bank of …

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• 14 January

  UAE, Australia to boost defence ties

  ABU DHABI / WAM Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, on Monday met with Christopher Pyne, Australian Minister for Defence. During the meeting, Al Bowardi hailed the distinguished relations between the UAE and Australia which are witnessing progress in all sectors. The two sides also discussed a number of issues of mutual interest and ways …

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• 14 January

  Etihad to raise Jet Air stake to 49%

  

  Bloomberg Etihad Airways PJSC has agreed to lead a rescue of cash-strapped Jet Airways India Ltd in a move that will see the Abu Dhabi-based carrier double its stake to 49 percent, according to television reports. Etihad is in talks to lift its holding from the current 24 percent, India’s BTVI channel reported, citing unidentified people familiar with matter. CNBC-TV18 …

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• 14 January

  Saudi, Canadian cuts leaving world hungry for heavy crude

  

  Bloomberg Output cuts in oil-rich Alberta and Saudi Arabia are combining to leave heavy-crude refiners from the Gulf of Mexico to Asia in a bind. While curtailments in the Canadian province have propelled local prices to their strongest level in almost a decade, other grades like Arab Heavy and Heavy Louisiana Sweet are also surging. The Saudis are expected to …

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• 14 January

  Sinopec wins approval for retail unit IPO

  

  Bloomberg Sinopec, China’s top oil refiner, won approval from the country’s cabinet for a long-awaited initial public offering of the retail unit that runs its vast chain of gas stations and convenience stores, people with knowledge of the matter said. The green light from the State Council clears the final Chinese regulatory hurdle for the deal and means the IPO …

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• 14 January

  Shell seeks Canada refinery sale to focus on LNG

  

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc is seeking buyers for an Ontario refinery and some sour gas facilities in Alberta as the company focuses on its $31 billion liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia. “These assets have been a cornerstone of Shell Canada for many years, however, they are no longer a fit with Shell’s evolving portfolio,” the company said …

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