September, 2017

• 17 September

  Sterling vulnerable as PM May poised to outline Brexit strategy

  

  Bloomberg The pound’s rally, spurred by the Bank of England’s hawkish rhetoric, may be vulnerable to heightened sensitivity to economic data and Brexit uncertainty this week. Sterling rounded off its biggest weekly gain in five months against the dollar, reaching its highest level since just after Britain’s European Union referendum as UK policy makers spurred speculation of an interest-rate increase ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Qatar index down for tenth day running

  Reuters Qatar’s stock index fell for a tenth straight session on Sunday as talk of dispute negotiations fails to sway investors, while strong oil prices boosted the Saudi Arabia market. Qatar’s index fell 0.4 percent to 8,375 points, but closed 62 points above the session low. The index has lost 6.3 percent over 10 sessions. Doha Bank dropped 2.6 percent. ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Nordea faces client mutiny in Sweden as bank moves base

  

  Bloomberg Nordea Bank AB is losing clients in Sweden in what independent mortgage brokers say appears to be a protest against the bank’s plan to redomicile to Finland in pursuit of a more accommodating regulatory environment. The customer shift has been registered by two online home-loan brokers and confirmed by other banks operating in Sweden. Nordea says flows in the ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Spain’s ex-central bank boss absolved in Bankia case

  

  Bloomberg Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez, the former governor of the Bank of Spain, was absolved of possible criminal acts in the Bankia SA case, along with seven other central bank and regulatory officials. Their omission of not taking action to prevent the Spanish commercial bank’s initial public offering wasn’t a criminal action — even though its accounts may have been ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Turkey’s central bank to maintain tight policy

  Reuters Turkey’s central bank said it will keep monetary policy tight until the inflation outlook displays a significant improvement, after it kept rates steady for the third straight meeting. Current elevated levels of inflation and developments in core inflation indicators pose risks to pricing behaviour and the bank would deliver further monetary tightening if needed, it said. It kept all ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Scolded South African central bank switches to attack mode

  

  Bloomberg The South African Reserve Bank’s fight against its detractors escalated this week, and now even has President Jacob Zuma in its sights. The central bank in court papers accused Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane of bias and being part of a campaign to undermine its independence after documents showed the anti-graft ombudsman held a secret meeting with Zuma’s lawyers before ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Barclays sees Kenyan banks rushing to up debt for capital

  

  Bloomberg Kenyan lenders risk needing to raise expensive debt on local markets next year to shore up their core capital levels, which may be eroded by new accounting standards the country is introducing that compel banks to classify losses differently. That’ll be a double whammy for an industry already reeling from the effects of interest-rate caps introduced a year ago, ...

  Read More »
• 17 September

  Summer of bitcoin ending badly as China clamps down on trading

  

  Bloomberg Bitcoin’s meteoric summertime surge risks coming to a painful end as Chinese policy makers move to restrict trading amid growing warnings of a market bubble. The biggest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 40% since reaching a record high of $4,921 on 1 September, cutting about $20 billion in market value. The collapse extended to as much as 30% this ...

  Read More »
• 16 September

  VP launches world’s largest solar plant

  

  Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the largest single-site Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project in the world, which will be built at a total cost of AED14.2 billion. The CSP project, which represents the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al ...

  Read More »
• 16 September

  UAE leads Arab nations in FDI

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been ranked the most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), among the Arab countries in 2016, accounting for 29 percent, or US$9 billion, of the total inflow investment, according to a study issued by the Ministry of Economy. “The UAE also topped the Arab countries in terms of new ...

  Read More »