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

Bloomberg Mechanics Bank agreed to buy much of Dutch lender Rabobank Group’s US operations for about $2.1 billion, bringing together two California lenders and extending the combined company’s reach throughout much of the state. Mechanics, based in Walnut Creek, California, is gaining Rabobank’s US retail, business-banking, commercial real estate, mortgage and wealth- management businesses, the companies said in a statement. ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is rebuffing pressure from top performers to restructure retention bonuses after the awards tumbled in value last year and opened the way for more defections, according to people familiar with the matter. The bank told key staff in recent weeks it won’t make any changes to the program, which began in 2017, the people said, asking ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s oldest bank may have handled considerably more in suspicious transactions tied to an Estonian money laundering scandal than first reported. Swedbank AB, which dominates financial markets in the Baltic region, allegedly let about 95 billion kronor ($10.2 billion) in questionable flows move through its accounts between 2007 and 2015, according to Sweden’s main television broadcaster, SVT, which cited ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s latest stimulus salvo means his successor as European Central Bank chief may not be forced into the kind of monetary policy U-turn he once faced. The president, who began his eight-year term reversing course on a recent interest-rate increase by his predecessor, has set in place the conditions to keep the euro zone in easing mode until ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is targeting 2 billion francs ($2 billion) in pretax profit for 2019 in its key wealth-manage-ment unit, seeking a fourth consecutive year of profit growth for the division, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Iqbal Khan, head of international wealth management, told staff at an internal company event last week that he’s aiming ...

Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV plans to dig deeper into the accounting misdeeds that brought the retailing giant to its knees as it seeks to get to the bottom of some $7.4 billion in fictitious or improper deals. A forensic probe by PwC found that a small group of former executives — with the help of others outside the company ...

Bloomberg Debenhams Plc cracked open the door to billionaire Mike Ashley for the first time, saying it’s considering his bid to increase control over the UK retailer and install himself as chief executive officer. The billionaire’s Sports Direct International Plc offered a loan of 150 million pounds ($199 million) to the troubled department-store chain in a deal that would boost ...

Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc. suspended its service to Venezuela on security concerns, shutting down the only flights to the country by a major US carrier. The move followed a notice from the carrier’s pilots union, backed up by flight attendants, telling its members to refuse the routes because of dangerous conditions in the nation. “American will not operate in ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG cut its growth plans after a slide in fares and higher fuel costs weighed on 2018 earnings. The stock fell the most in 4 1/2 months after the German carrier said it will slow capacity increases to 1.9 percent this summer from the 3.8 percent previously planned in an effort to bolster prices and cope with ...

Bloomberg The Boeing Co. 737 Max crash in Ethiopia looks increasingly likely to hit the planemaker’s order book as mounting safety concerns prompt airlines to reconsider purchases worth about $57 billion. VietJet Aviation JSC, which doubled its order to 200 of the aircraft priced at about $25 billion only last month, said it will decide on its future plans once ...