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

The Trump administration is taking aim at the Volcker Rule, one of the core elements of the Dodd-Frank financial reform, saying it’s too complex and burdensome. That’s true, but improving the rule shouldn’t mean weakening it. The rule has a vital purpose: denying taxpayer subsidy to speculation. It therefore bans speculative trading at financial institutions with access to federal deposit ...

It’s going to be Janet Yellen’s Federal Reserve no matter who is the next chair. With every headline, financial markets get jolted as investors guess whether US President Donald Trump will re-nominate Yellen to the helm of the US central bank or opt for a more hawkish successor such as Stanford University economist John Taylor. Fed chairs matter. If credible, ...

The morning after is always when reality hits. Reading the news headlines about China’s recently minted sovereign bond, one could be forgiven for thinking President Xi Jinping’s moment in the capital markets has arrived. The government’s $1 billion of 10-year notes were priced just 25 basis points over Treasuries, with the spread narrowing to less than 10 basis points Friday ...

Catalonia’s declaration of independence from Spain, passed by the Catalan parliament on Friday, is a largely symbolic gesture as far as true independence goes. It will, however, require all of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s experience and skill to defuse this situation. These last couple of days, I’ve been in Barcelona trying to make sense of the complex game that’s ...

Bloomberg Most US stocks fell, with large-cap tech stocks bucking the trend, while the dollar slipped and Treasuries advanced as markets struck a tone of caution at the start of a week stuffed with catalysts. The euro gained. The S&P 500 Index opened lower as investors assessed the impact of the first charges in the broad investigation to Russian meddling ...

Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market was soft on Monday despite strong earnings at Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), while Emaar Properties dragged down Dubai’s index. The Saudi index edged down 0.2 percent. SABIC, the biggest petrochemical producer, gained 0.6 percent after reporting a 10.7 percent rise in third-quarter net profit to 5.79 billion riyals; analysts had on average forecast 4.27 ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc’s $100 billion bet on Asia is bearing fruit, driving its third consecutive increase in quarterly revenue just months before Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver hands the reins to John Flint. Asia posted the biggest revenue gain among of the bank’s five regions, helping it report higher-than-expected third-quarter adjusted revenue of $13 billion. During the period, HSBC ...

Bloomberg China’s largest banks posted double-digit increases in lending income in the third quarter, validating some of the earnings optimism that has fueled a rally in their shares this year. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. on Monday reported average net interest income gains of 15 percent. The figures ...

Bloomberg The 6,000 job cuts announced last week at Nordea Bank AB are just a down payment for an industry facing radical overhaul, says Chief Executive Officer Casper von Koskull. “If somebody says, where are we, or where are banks, 10 years from now, banks could easily have half what they have today,” in terms of personnel, von Koskull said ...

Bloomberg The Bank of England may increase interest rates this week for the first time in more than a decade, but that won’t be enough to buoy the pound, according to strategists. Markets almost fully price in a 25-basis-point increase in the BOE’s key rate on Thursday, meaning investors are ill-prepared for a disappointment. Should Governor Mark Carney and fellow ...