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

  Bloomberg A European Union bad bank would go a long way toward reducing the 1.2 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) mountain of soured loans on lenders’ books, but that relief may be a long time coming, according to the bloc’s bank regulator. Andrea Enria, chairman of the European Banking Authority (EBA), proposed setting up a bloc-wide asset-management company to take over ...

  Bloomberg Jim McCaughan, who oversees more than $390 billion at Principal Global Investors, cautioned against betting on European stocks, even after they trailed US equities for years. “I see this as a value trap,” McCaughan said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t see where the growth is coming from in Europe, and I see lots of risk. ...

  Bloomberg South Africa’s antitrust investigators urged that a dozen banks be fined for colluding and manipulating trades in the rand, becoming potentially the latest in a string of penalties handed to lenders around the world for rigging currencies. The Competition Commission identified lenders including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC Holdings Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG, ...

  Bloomberg When Rob Boardman is scouring Dublin to hire for his firm’s electronic broking and dark-pool business, it can take up to a year to find the right candidate. “It’s a question of quantity of talent, not quality,” said Boardman, Investment Technology Group Inc.’s European chief executive officer, who has been recruiting in the city since 2010. “It can ...

  Bento Rodrigues / DPA The earth is a reddish colour, practically orange, and on deserted streets the soil, a kind of dry clay, is turning into a very fine dust. “The scene of the crime” – these are the words used by a former resident of Bento Rodrigues to describe the tiny community in south-eastern Brazil, which is now ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Even infants can have conversations with mom or dad. Their turn just tends to involve a smile or some gibberish instead of words. That’s a key lesson from programs that are coaching parents to talk more with their babies — and recording their attempts. At issue is how to bridge the infamous “word gap,” the fact ...

  Reuters Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers are upending the traditional practices of the market, using their leverage as the world’s biggest buyers of the fuel to wrestle concessions for more flexible terms. Japan’s electric utilities have won provisions that will allow them to divert contracted LNG cargoes if they restart their nuclear reactors, most of which have been ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s crude production exceeded 700,000 barrels a day and is due to keep rising as working conditions in the conflict-ridden country improve for international companies like Eni SpA and Total SA, an official from the state oil company said. The North African country’s crude production is due to reach 1.2 million barrels a day by August and 1.7 ...

  Reuters Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has received substantial payments from the Saudi Arabian government to settle debts since the start of this year, a boost to the struggling construction conglomerate and to the kingdom’s economy, banking sources said. SBG has received 2.4 billion riyals ($640 million) so far this year for its work on state projects including the King ...

  Bloomberg Greenlight Capital is no longer betting on SunEdison Inc.’s two TerraForm yieldcos, marking the end of another chapter in its bruising wager on the renewable-energy company. The New York-based hedge fund run by David Einhorn unloaded its remaining shares in TerraForm Power Inc. and TerraForm Global Inc. in the fourth quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It ...