Bloomberg Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are finding patience pays off in China. The trio now have an advantage over some of their largest Wall Street rivals after officials in charge of the world’s No. 2 economy promised to let foreigners take majority stakes in securities firms there — raising limits that had long frustrated US ...
Read More »South Africa central bank has little policy space to boost growth
Bloomberg South Africa has limited space for counter-cyclical monetary policy to support economic expansion because inflation risks have increased, central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said. The balance of risks for growth in consumer prices is “on the upside,†with the rand weakening against the dollar, a higher oil price, and a chance that power prices will increase, he said in ...
Read More »CIMB’s Nazir plans to set up $1bn Southeast Asia fund
Bloomberg Nazir Razak, chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. and brother of Malaysia’s prime minister, is helping start a regional private equity fund that will seek as much as $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Nazir will keep his role at CIMB, Malaysia’s second-largest bank, while acting as one of the fund’s five partners, according to the ...
Read More »Guptas target S Africa bank regulator over account closures
Bloomberg A group of companies linked to South Africa’s politically connected Gupta family said the country’s banking regulator encouraged lenders to shut their accounts, broadening a battle to retain the last of their banking services. The 20 businesses, which are suing Bank of Baroda’s local unit to keep their accounts open, have now included Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and ...
Read More »VietJet may buy 787s or A350s as airline weighs US route
Bloomberg VietJet Aviation JSC plans to expand its fleet to include wide-body jets as the Vietnamese low-cost carrier considers California as its first US destination starting about 2019. Vietnam’s biggest private airline would use the larger aircraft to begin the route after the US Federal Aviation Administration grants Vietnam airlines permission to fly to America, said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, ...
Read More »Emirates doubles down on first-class with upgraded suite designs
Bloomberg Emirates, which operates the world’s biggest fleet of long-haul aircraft, threw its weight behind the future of first-class travel, pouring millions into an upgrade of the ultra-luxury category on its Boeing 777 aircraft even as other carriers dispense of the biggest berths. President Tim Clark showcased the new design on the opening day of the Dubai Air Show, with ...
Read More »Retailers cut holiday season hiring as e-commerce takes toll
Bloomberg As brick-and-mortar retailers struggle to remain relevant in the new world of e-commerce, they’re hiring fewer seasonal workers. That’s according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., which shows October employment gains fell 8 percent from last year—a result of fewer hiring announcements from companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The report shows that seasonal retail hiring has ...
Read More »Cathay to be dropped from Hang Seng Index
Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways is losing its decades-old membership of Hong Kong’s benchmark equity gauge as the city’s flagship carrier struggles to revive earnings. The airline will be dropped along with Kunlun Energy Co. as part of Hang Seng Indexes Co.’s quarterly review. Country Garden Holdings Co., a Chinese property developer, and Sunny Optical Technology Group Co., an Apple Inc. ...
Read More »Singapore Air’s A380 to return to leasing firm after 10 years’ service
Bloomberg The first Airbus SE superjumbo to exit service will be stored minus its engines at a French airfield as its owner seeks a new operator for a plane that while still relatively young in industry terms has fallen out of favour with airlines. The A380 will be returned to leasing firm Dr. Peters after 10 years of service with ...
Read More »GCC oil and gas project value tops AED1.21trn
Dubai / Emirates Business The combined value of the 361 active oil and gas projects in the GCC has crossed $331.4 billion (AED1.21 trillion) in November 2017, according to latest Oil and Gas Construction Analytics report issued by BNC Network, the largest and most comprehensive project research and intelligence provider in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Hydrocarbon ...
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