A law firm and an Islamic finance advisory firm are working to adapt Italy's "mini-bonds" legislation to provide sharia-compliant funding options as an alternative to bank lending.

Saudi Arabia's three telecom operators are in talks to create a company to own and manage their mobile transmitter towers in a move that could cut costs and lower tariffs in the kingdom, a Saudi financial news website reported.

Saudi Arabia's government-owned fund Sanabil Investments has acquired a 20 percent stake in Ebrahim Mohammed Almana & Brothers Co, the owner of the Almana General Hospitals (AGH), a statement from one of the advisers said.

A slowdown in Dubai's real estate and construction sector will lead to more cases being filed with the emirate's arbitration centre, the body's chairman said.

Money exchange houses in the United Arab Emirates are holding talks with the central bank about planned new capital requirements, amid concern that they might crimp growth in the industry.

Malaysian state-owned conglomerate Felda will use an unlisted unit to buy into Indonesian tycoon Peter Sondakh's debt-burdened Rajawali Group, sources familiar with the matter said, seeking to avoid heavy investor criticism that scuttled an attempted deal last year.

The mood of goodwill evident in early talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar's military over the country's transition to democratic government has soured, as tensions rise over how to divide up power and deal with the legacy of junta rule.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo unveiled plans for a "big bang" loosening of restrictions on foreign investment in nearly 50 sectors to encourage competition in an economy long dominated by powerful vested interests.

The Indonesian government plans to form a holding company that will own shares in all of the country's state-controlled banks by 2018 in a bid to make lenders more efficient and boost equity, an official at the state-owned enterprises ministry said at a briefing.

Thailand's decision to bar overseas issuers of bonds in the baht markets from taking their funds out of the country does not constitute a capital control, the Thai finance minister told Reuters.