February, 2018

• 17 February

  US Bancorp to pay $600 million over money laundering

  

  Bloomberg US Bancorp agreed to pay about $600 million to settle US allegations that it failed to guard against money laundering, under a deal announced in New York. Prosecutors said the Minneapolis-based bank failed to report suspicious activities of a longtime customer, Scott Tucker, who was using the bank to launder proceeds of a fraudulent payday lending scam. Tucker was …

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• 17 February

  ‘Central bankers can’t afford another setback’

  

  Bloomberg The world’s central bankers are learning that there’s virtually no room for error as they try to find a way out of a decade of extreme monetary stimulus. That’s the message from Norway’s central bank governor, Oystein Olsen, who also oversees the country’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. “Unexpected things can happen, and the warning, call it a small …

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• 17 February

  ECB talks on stimulus policy wording soon

  

  Bloomberg European Central Bank policy maker Benoit Coeure signalled that officials are close to starting talks on altering their policy language as they prepare for the eventual end of bond purchases. “Our communication on monetary policy will change” Coeure told reporters on in Skopje, Macedonia. “Certainly the expectation is that this will be discussed in early 2018.” The ECB is …

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• 17 February

  Banks told they are lagging on response to climate risks

  

  Bloomberg Fewer than half the world’s biggest banks are doing enough to forestall climate change that poses risks to their markets and economies. Most lenders still aren’t producing firm targets for low-carbon financial products that will aid efforts to keep temperatures from rising, according to a survey of 59 banks conducted by Boston Common Asset Management LLC. Even the strongest …

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• 14 February

  UAE offers $500 million for Iraq reconstruction efforts

  KUWAIT / WAM Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, announced the UAE’s offer to provide deve- lopment aid worth $500 million, to assist international efforts to reconstruct Iraq. During his speech as head of the UAE delegation at the ‘Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq,’ he explained that the support includes $250 million …

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• 14 February

  Damac profit hits AED2.8bn

  

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai’s Damac Properties reported a total revenue of AED7.5 billion, a 4 percent increase over last year and net profit of AED2.8 billion, according to the company’s financial results for year ended 2017. Damac also announced that it has delivered 20,236 units as of December 31, 2017, marking a milestone for the company and the industry as …

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• 14 February

  Emaar Properties’ operating profit up 16%

  Dubai / WAM Emaar Properties recorded a net operating profit of AED 5.704 billion during full-year (January to December) 2017, a growth of 16 percent over the FY 2016 net operating profit of AED 4.917 billion. Total revenue for FY 2017 increased by 21 percent to AED18.812 billion, over FY 2016 revenue of AED 15.540 billion. In 2017, Emaar successfully …

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• 14 February

  Russia eyes multi-million-dollar Saudi deals, Aramco IPO

  

  RIYADH / Reuters Russia is seeking to finalise multi-million-dollar investment deals with Saudi Arabia in the next three months including partnerships with state oil giant Aramco, Russia’s top state investment officer said on Wednesday. Russian banks and a Russian-Chinese investment fund are also keen to take part in Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO), the head of the Russian Direct Investment …

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• 14 February

  Oil market says rout may not be over

  

  LONDON / Reuters As OPEC watches a near 15 percent drop in the oil price in three weeks, important indicators in the physical crude market are flashing signals that the decline might be far from over. The warnings come not from the heavily traded futures market, but from less transparent trading activity in crude oil and products markets, where key …

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• 14 February

  Clariant plans SABIC update by July

  ZURICH / Reuters Clariant Chief Executive Hariolf Kottmann told investors he would update them on the Swiss speciality chemicals maker’s tie-up with new shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) by July as he seeks a recovery from a turbulent 2017. Full-year net profit in 2017 rose 9.5 percent, short of analyst estimates, as the group was hit by one-time costs …

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