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

The European Commission’s decision to let Italy spend up to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) to clean up the mess left by two failed banks is bad news — and not just for Italy’s taxpayers. It’s also a setback for the euro zone’s putative banking union, and for the European Union’s efforts to supervise anti-competitive state aid. Over the weekend, ...

Malware has yet again disrupted businesses around the world, just weeks after hackers used leaked National Security Administration tools in a global cyberattack called WannaCry. The ultimate target in both cases may be people’s sensitive information — a troubling reality that should finally motivate organizations to get serious about security. The recent attack was more sophisticated than WannaCry, which took ...

Imagine that a European leader invaded England and deposed the legitimate head of state, leaving a Dutchman in charge of the country. If you didn’t know any better, you might think this is an overwrought caricature of what the European Union was supposed to bring to British affairs, at least pre-Brexit; that story sounds far worse than the regulations, taxes ...

It seems that barely a week goes by these days without a titan of Japan Inc. falling on hard times. Shareholders are gripped by a sense of dread that the great corporate leaders that helped build the world’s third-largest economy are losing their grip. The fear is spreading to even the best-run companies. While those emotions are understandable, investors would ...

The unexpectedly large fine the European Commission has slapped on Google—€2.4 billion—is evidence that the search giant’s relationship with European regulators is now a vicious circle of escalation. Google’s reluctance to give up any revenue from its fastest-growing ad format may lead to significant, unpredictable losses in its biggest market outside the US. The case in which competition commissioner Margrethe ...

DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock slumped on Sunday as a deadline for Doha to accept a series of political demands by four Arab states was expected to expire late in the day with no sign of the crisis ending while Saudi Arabia’s rally extended for a third session. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said at the weekend ...

Bloomberg Unicaja Banco SA raised about 688 million euros ($783 million) in an initial public offering that turned into a test of confidence in Spanish banks after this month’s demise of a larger lender. Unicaja, based in the southern city of Malaga, priced the sale of 40.3 percent of its equity at 1.10 euros per share, the low end of ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc became the first foreign bank to win permission for a majority-owned securities joint venture in China, a structure some of its competitors have unsuccessfully lobbied to secure for several years. The London-based firm received approval to invest 918 million yuan ($135 million) for 51 percent of a venture with Qianhai Financial Holdings Co., the China Securities ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG, which helped arrange the majority of the $2 billion in Mozambique state-backed loans that plunged the country’s economy into crisis, disputed that it received more than $160 million in fees for arranging the financing. The bank was responding to Kroll LLC’s audit report into the loans that said it and Russia’s VTB Bank PJSC were ...

Bloomberg The Dutch state will sell an additional 7 percent of ABN Amro Group NV, a stake worth about $1.7 billion at current prices, taking advantage of steady demand for European bank stocks as it progresses toward full privatization. About 65 million shares will be sold in an accelerated bookbuild, bringing the government’s controlling stake down to 63 percent, NLFI, ...