Indonesia's anti-graft watchdog will launch an unprecedented investigation next year into the energy industry, as part of a stepped-up campaign to rid the sector of what President Joko Widodo's administration has called an "oil and gas mafia."

The Bombay High Court on Nov. 26 ruled in favour of the Indian unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc in a multimillion dollar tax dispute, the latest verdict against the tax department that has been vigorously pursuing claims against foreign firms in India.

A planned merger by Switzerland's Holcim Ltd and France's Lafarge to create the world's biggest cement maker might hurt competition in India, the country's antitrust regulator has said, asking the firms for more details.

A Saudi real estate company has sued Barclays for $10 billion, claiming the bank ceased pursuing lease payments due from the Saudi government on military complexes in the kingdom in order to obtain a lucrative banking licence there.

Investors have filed a lawsuit in the United States against Indonesia's PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk and associated companies for allegedly breaching the terms of a $380 million bond, by failing to make two interest payments and indicating that it will continue to default on its obligations.

UBS said on Wednesday it had taken action against staff in Singapore for their use of electronic messaging, highlighting how banks have clamped down following probes into interest rate setting and foreign exchange trading.

Japan's securities regulator said on Friday it was seeking a fine against a Singapore-based trader for suspected market manipulation in Japanese government bond (JGB) futures.

Bruce Hall, a former chief executive of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and a key witness in a high-profile British corruption trial that collapsed last year, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay 3 million pounds ($5.1 million) by a London court on Tuesday.

Tokyo prosecutors said on Tuesday they will charge the Japanese unit of Novartis AG and a former employee in connection with allegations of data manipulation in promoting its best-selling blood pressure drug Diovan.

Malaysia's Securities Commission has tightened rules on bai inah, a popular but divisive Islamic financing contract, in a fresh sign that standards in the world's two main centres for sharia-compliant banking are slowly converging.