March, 2018

• 26 March

  A $14 billion legal test is latest threat to Norway’s oil future

  

  Bloomberg Norway’s oil industry has one more thing to worry about. After an unprecedented lawsuit against Arctic drilling, environmentalists have launched a new legal battle to challenge a tax incentive that’s been a cornerstone of the country’s policy to stimulate oil exploration. The move comes at a bad time for Norway, which needs to step up the search for new …

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• 26 March

  Vitol posts 25 percent drop in profit as market shifts

  

  Bloomberg Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, suffered a 25 percent drop in annual profit as income from assets sales failed to offset weaker trading results. Net income fell to $1.5 billion in 2017, from $2 billion the year before, according to a person familiar with Vitol’s results. The energy-trading environment has deteriorated as output curbs by OPEC …

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• 26 March

  Stocks roar back, bonds fall as trade angst ebbs; dollar drops

  

  Bloomberg US equities rallied back from the biggest weekly rout in more than two years, with major benchmarks surging the most since early February on signs that an escalation of trade tensions was beginning to ease. Technology firms and banks were among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500 Index as a measure of the gauge’s valuation rose from a …

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• 26 March

  Gulf stocks muted, Saudi bourse closes up despite missile attacks

  

  Reuters Middle Eastern stocks were mixed on Monday with investors in Saudi Arabia largely ignoring an apparent escalation in the country’s three-year war with Yemen, after the conflict caused its first civilian death within Riyadh. The kingdom’s air defences shot down seven ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi forces late on March 25, and debris killed an Egyptian resident of …

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• 26 March

  UBS eyes small deals as Ermotti builds on bank’s push in wealth

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG is considering small acquisitions to complement its focus on organic growth as it reverses a shrinking of assets following the financial crisis. “Our focus is on organic growth. Of course we look at small acquisitions here and there to complement our portfolio,” Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the China …

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• 26 March

  German bank mulls robo-adviser for firms

  

  Bloomberg 220-year-old Hamburg-based private bank M.M.Warburg & CO, which now uses an online asset manager to also attract private clients with smaller wallets, might expand this offer to semi-institutional customers by the end of the year, according to investment chief Christian Jasperneite. The company’s so-called Warburg Navigator, which was launched last year, accepts private clients with a minimum investment of …

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• 26 March

  Volatile volatility roils Europe investment banks

  

  Bloomberg Europe’s investment banks were upbeat after a spike in volatility at the start of the year promised to revive their battered trading units. Their exuberance had disappeared as quickly as it came. Deutsche Bank AG cautioned that its securities unit was facing headwinds this quarter from a stronger euro and higher funding costs for the business, less than a …

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• 26 March

  SNB’s elusive German investor may be clue to bank’s big share gain

  

  Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) biggest private shareholder sold 10 percent of his stake in 2017, capitalising on the thinly traded stock’s mystifying rally. Theo Siegert, a German businessman and professor, held 6,070 shares — or 6.07 percent of the SNB — as of Dec. 31, down from 6,720 a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual …

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• 26 March

  As trade war heats up, currency whales make their move

  

  Bloomberg For the first time in a decade, the world’s central banks are looking beyond the dollar to build their currency reserves. With US protectionism on the rise, a number of Wall Street strategists say the case for the euro has rarely been better. Existential crises that hobbled the European experiment have receded. A resurgent economy has spurred talk the …

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• 26 March

  Givaudan taps organic trend with $1.6 billion Naturex deal

  

  Bloomberg Going organic can come with a high price tag. Just ask Givaudan SA. The Swiss flavours and fragrance company agreed y to buy Naturex for about 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion), or 135 euros a share. That’s 42 percent above where the supplier of natural plant extracts closed in Paris trading. The deal values the Avignon, France-based company at …

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