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.

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.

BSI, the Swiss private bank owned by Brazil's embattled Grupo BTG Pactual SA, has hired a former Swiss prosecutor as its general counsel, a spokeswoman for the Lugano-based lender said in an emailed statement.

A banker at Swiss wealth manager BSI's Singapore unit withdrew a court application to release his bank accounts that were frozen as part of the city-state's probe against possible money laundering linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

India's decision to effectively ban Facebook's pared-back free Internet service is a major blow to the social network's plans, and may prompt other regulators to demand equal online access for their users.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA has lost the right to use its own brand name in Indonesia after a legal battle with a local company that claimed the trademark, court documents showed.

A total of 13 banks, mostly Taiwanese, answered a call from Myanmar's central bank for expressions of interest in a second round of foreign bank licencing aimed at further liberalising a sector that was previously off-limits to international players.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the world's biggest multinational trade deals, was signed by 12 member nations in New Zealand, but the massive trade pact will still require years of tough negotiations before it becomes a reality.

The United Arab Emirates is likely to ratify a law by the end of this year that will allow the federal government to issue bonds, after which the UAE would issue about 80 billion to 100 billion dirhams ($22 billion to $27 billion) worth of debt, a senior finance ministry official said.

Qatar may create special courts during the 2022 soccer World Cup to deal quickly and "very gently" with alcohol-consuming fans who break the law in a conservative Muslim state where public drunkenness is prohibited, a Qatari official said.