July, 2019

• 21 July

  Nordea slumps after hinting to cut shareholder rewards

  

  Bloomberg Nordea Bank Abp said the pressure of negative interest rates and a tougher regulatory environment will force it to review its financial targets this year after delivering a set of quarterly results it characterised as “not satisfactory.” The environment has changed, “with expected lower rates for longer,” Nordea said. On top of that, management is awaiting “more clarity on ...

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• 21 July

  N26 bank valued at $3.5b amid US launch

  

  Bloomberg A German smartphone bank backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Li Ka-shing has raised new funds at a valuation of $3.5 billion, making the company one of Europe’s highest valued non-listed fintech firms. N26 GmbH extended its Series D funding round by $170 million to a total $470 million, the Berlin-based company said. The round was originally announced in ...

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• 21 July

  Kapoor’s wealth erodes by $1b as Yes Bank slumps

  

  Bloomberg A 78 percent drop in Yes Bank Ltd shares since August has left founder and former chief executive officer Rana Kapoor some $1 billion poorer. The Indian lender, which reported earnings that showed its capital buffers had weakened and bad loan ratio widened, plunged as much as 20 percent. That’s contributed to a drop in Kapoor’s net worth to ...

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• 21 July

  StanChart’s whistleblower says US missed $56 billion in Iran deals

  

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc’s transactions with Iran were worth tens of billions of dollars more than previously known, a whistleblower said in a lawsuit claiming the British bank actively pursued Iranian business in violation of US sanctions. The whistleblower, a bank executive who has not been named in court papers, was the bank’s global head of transaction banking and foreign ...

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• 21 July

  Fed’s Eric Rosengren signals his opposition to interest-rate cut

  Bloomberg Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said he doesn’t believe the US economy needs an interest-rate cut, given the positive data that’s rolled in since mid-June. “The economy’s doing actually quite well,” Rosengren said in an interview with CNBC. “We’re not really having an economic slowdown.” Rosengren, who votes this year on the policy-making Federal Open Market ...

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• 21 July

  Dubai to host region’s first conference on ‘AI in sports’

  

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Sports Council has announced the region’s first-ever conference on artificial intelligence (AI) in the global sports industry to be held in Dubai, on October 14 and 15, at the World Trade Centre. The Dubai Artificial Intelligence in Sports (Dais), conference, and exhibition is being held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid ...

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• 21 July

  RTA installs 100 solar-powered Nol machines

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has completed the installation of 100 Nol top-up machines powered by solar energy in several parts of Dubai. The step is part of RTA’s efforts to expand the use of renewable energy in all services and projects in support of the government drive towards a green and sustainable economy. “The installation ...

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• 21 July

  ADIB, Bahrain’s Al Baraka ink pact to expand network

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) and Al Baraka Banking Group — a Bahrain-headquartered Islamic multinational banking group —announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand transactional networks. The correspondent bank-ing arrangement provides clients with greater flexibility and access to a wider network, in order to conduct seamless cross-border fund transactions. The MoU was ...

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• 21 July

  Chinese firms invest AED6.2b in Khalifa Industrial Zone

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The vital projects between the UAE and China reflect the close cooperation between the two countries and the UAE’s strategic role in supporting the success of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative as the gateway to the Middle East and North Africa. There are several prominent Chinese projects in the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone in ...

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• 21 July

  National Bank of Fujairah profit rises 15.1% in H1

  

  FUJAIRAH / WAM National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) announced its results for the six month period ended on June 30. NBF posted a record net profit of AED357.1 million, a rise of 15.1 percent over the corresponding period of 2018, which exhibits its resilient business strategy. The bank also recorded its best-ever half-year operating profit of AED567.0 million which increased ...

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