January, 2018

• 29 January

  Iran ready to seek arbitration in Turkmenistan gas dispute

  LONDON / Reuters Tehran is ready to file a case with the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) over the quality and price of gas it receives from Turkmenistan, the Iranian oil minister said on Monday, as a dispute between the two nations over payments escalates. The Central Asian nation stopped gas exports to Iran in January 2017, saying it was …

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• 29 January

  Coal bites back in China on supply worry; gas switching halt

  

  Bloomberg In the latest reminder that coal still dominates the world’s biggest energy consumer, Chinese power producers are warning of supply tightness while one northern province plans to pause switching homes and industries to natural gas to avoid further heating shortages. Four of China’s biggest generators sent an “emergency report” dated Jan. 22 to the National Development & Reform Commission, …

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• 29 January

  Davos elite eyes M&A across Europe’s banking industry

  

  Bloomberg The rationale for merging some of Europe’s biggest lenders is compelling. That’s the view of many financial executives who met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. A decade after the financial crisis, some of the region’s biggest lenders are facing declining revenue as interest rates linger near record lows, while legal bills and capital demands …

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• 29 January

  Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank plans aggressive expansion in Pakistan

  

  DUBAI / Reuters Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank plans to add more than 100 branches in Pakistan this year through its subsidiary Faysal Bank, to capitalise on the country’s low penetration rate of banking services, a senior executive said. Ithmaar Bank owns 66 percent of Faysal Bank, whose contribution to the Islamic retail bank’s overall balance sheet would likely grow to more …

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• 29 January

  ECB’s Knot says QE program must end soon

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank has to end its quantitative easing as soon as possible, according to ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot, who said there’s not a single reason anymore to continue with the program. “The program has done what could realistically be expected of it,” Knot, who also heads the Dutch Central Bank, said in an interview on …

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• 29 January

  Saudi foreign reserves rise for third straight month

  DUBAI / Reuters The Saudi Arabian central bank’s foreign reserves rose in December for a third consecutive month, a sign that higher oil prices may be easing pressure on the government’s finances, official data showed. The bank’s net foreign assets grew $2.0 billion from November to $488.9 billion last month, after increasing $1.0 billion in November and $8.3 billion in …

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• 29 January

  Deutsche Bank could find silver lining despite Basel capital hit

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s big hit from stricter global capital standards may be softened by the small print. New rules give supervisors the option to exclude banks’ litigation payouts when calculating their so-called operational risk. If that happens, it would be a boon for Deutsche Bank and potentially improve returns for shareholders. The bank declined to comment specifically on the …

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• 29 January

  United head’s plan may spur lower airfares

  

  Bloomberg Scott Kirby has a very specific view about how the three US hub-and-spoke airlines work best, having managed two of them. In his current job as president of United Airlines, Kirby’s role is to oversee a major overhaul of how the carrier operates, beginning with a broad restructuring of its three domestic-focussed hubs in Chicago, Denver and Houston. By …

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• 29 January

  Singapore Air taps workers for ideas to boost efficiency

  

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd., the premium carrier that’s undergoing a business revamp to fend off competition from Gulf airlines and budget operators, is turning to its employees for ideas. Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier is setting up a lab and encouraging workers across its group—including SilkAir and Scoot—to submit proposals that would help boost efficiency in its operations, Chief Executive Officer …

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• 29 January

  Immediate liquidity needs addressed: Steinhoff

  Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV said it has secured enough money to keep its businesses running in the immediate term and can now start talks with a broader group of creditors. The troubled South African retail group has arranged new credit lines for units in the UK, US and France as well as agreeing a restructuring of its Austrian division, …

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