The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd., Ant Financial, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp. are among companies to win licenses to create virtual lenders in Hong Kong, bringing major players into the race to shake up the city’s traditional banking sector. Tencent has teamed up with ICBC’s local unit and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., according to ...

Bloomberg A bond market as old as capitalism itself has emerged as the latest proving ground for cryptocurrencies. A unit of Societe Generale SA sold 100 million euros ($112 million) of covered bonds — debt backed by mortgages — in the form of digital tokens with the French bank as the only buyer. The idea of last month’s pilot issue ...

Bloomberg Norway’s central bank said it will probably raise interest rates in June, three months after the last increase, as policy makers break with a global trend and commit to tightening. The economy of Western Europe’s biggest oil exporter is nearing full capacity as its labour market grows tighter and inflation creeps above Norges Bank’s target. But with central bankers ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier accelerated a long-running cleanup and bore down on costs as the Italian bank prepares to move from a strategy of recovery to growth. Italy’s biggest bank reduced operating expenses by 4.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and set aside less money for bad loans. That helped the ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc’s pledge last month to pump $800 million into making next-day delivery the new standard upped the pressure on its brick-and-mortar rivals to spend more trying to catch up all over again. That’s good news for logistics startups helping Walmart Inc, Best Buy Co, Macy’s Inc and other retailers compete online. These upstarts, often led by Amazon alumni, ...

Bloomberg Pilots’ unions at Southwest Airlines Co, United Continental Holdings Inc and American Airlines Group Inc received federal grand jury subpoenas for documents relating to Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association was given until May 24 to comply with the demand from the US Justice Department’s criminal division, union President Jon Weaks said. The Air Line ...

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc will provide free Wi-Fi on some domestic flights starting from May 13, testing a plan to make the offering a standard feature. The pilot programme will include about 55 daily flights of varying length and across economy and premium cabins, Delta said. Passengers will be notified ahead of time by email if they’re on such ...

Bloomberg PT Garuda Indonesia defended the validity of its 2018 finances after a regulator raised questions about how the national carrier accounted for certain transactions, including with a startup technology company. The airline booked revenue of $211.9 million from PT Mahata Aero Teknologi, its annual report showed. The contribution helped Garuda to report a net income of $809,846 last year ...

Bloomberg The crash of a US Marine Corps F-35 that temporarily grounded the entire fleet of next-generation jets in 2018 was caused by a manufacturing defect in a fuel tube made by a United Technologies subcontractor, according to congressional investigators. The defect “caused an engine fuel tube to rupture during flight, resulting in a loss of power to the engine,” ...

Bloomberg Oil traded near a five-week low as concern over supply losses from Iran to Russia were offset by high American stockpiles and fears that if US-China trade talks fail it could dent global demand. Futures erased earlier gains to fall as much as 0.5 percent in New York after a 1.4 percent plunge. Russian tankers continue to hold Urals ...