LIV Golf, the upstart league owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is building up in Europe with the signing of HSBC as its official international banking partner.

The three-year alliance with the London-based bank will start today with the LIV Golf Andalucia event at Real Club Valderrama in Spain.

HSBC has been a longtime sponsor of Europe’s DP Tour, which entered a strategic alliance in 2020 with the PGA, the established U.S. tour.

Under the agreement, HSBC said it will sponsor two of the league’s 13 teams, the Crushers GC and Majesticks GC.

HSBC will also become the presenting partner of LIV Golf’s “9 to Play” segment that will appear during every LIV Golf live broadcast and is seen in 120 international markets.

“HSBC’s track record in supporting and advancing the game of golf is inspiring and admirable, and we are proud to welcome them into LIV Golf’s growing roster of global partners,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.

LIV Golf, which poached some of the PGA’s biggest names through $100 million-plus contracts, is currently in its fourth season.

The two leagues have been negotiating a merger unsuccessfully for the past two years.

President Donald Trump is one of LIV Golf’s most prominent fans and has hosted events at his golf resorts in New Jersey, Florida and Washington D.C.

The world’s oil producers are bracing for a decline in global demand next year and lower-than-expected sales through 2029 amid a slowdown in China’s economic growth and its expanded use of alternative fuels.

The forecast is contained in OPEC’s 2025 World Oil Outlook, which was published today in connection with the organization’s biennial International Seminar taking place in Vienna, Austria.

In the long run, however, OPEC sees demand rising again in 2030 as consumption grows in India, the Middle East and Africa. Among the factors for the predicted rebound are expectations that many countries will miss their climate goals for transitioning to sustainable fuels.

World oil demand in 2026 will average 106.3 million barrels per day, down from 108 million bpd last year, OPEC said in the report. It expects demand to grow steadily to 111.6 million bpd in 2029, which is below previous forecasts.

Behind the expected cut in demand is the economic slowdown in China, which is the world’s biggest oil importer. Other factors cited were China’s embrace of electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure along with increased use of solar power and other sustainable energy sources.

Amid the expectations for next year’s decline in oil demand, the OPEC+ group – which comprises both OPEC members and other producers including Russia – announced on Saturday that it will further lift mandated supply limits in August to regain market share after years of cuts.

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais said today that the group sees signs of strong demand during the current year, driven by China and India as well as a “booming” aviation season and an uptick in U.S. gasoline demand. In an interview with CNBC he cited the importance of uninterrupted oil supply around the world, warning that conflicts in the Middle East and U.S. sanctions threaten to undermine that.

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned chemical maker Sabic is considering selling shares of its industrial gas unit as part of a rigorous review of its operations after a string of quarterly losses.

An IPO for National Industrial Gasses Co. on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange is among the “strategic options” being evaluated, Sabic said today in a statement, confirming earlier reports that a share sale was being discussed.

Sabic, a maker of petrochemicals and fertilizers that is 70% owned by Saudi Aramco, has posted losses in its past two quarters, prompting discussions about restructuring the company to focus on its core businesses. Sabic shares are down 16% this year.

Preliminary consultations with investment banks about selling shares of the gas unit – in which Sabic owes a 74% stake – included talks with Lazard, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg reported in May.

Sabic, short for Saudi Basic Industries Corp., said in today’s statement that it will offer details on its restructuring in the third quarter and aims to complete the plan by the end of this year.

Mubadala Capital said it hired Ophir Shmuel, a London-based money manager at Eaton Partners, as its new Head of Business Development.

Shmuel will “lead efforts to expand and deepen our relationships with investors globally,” Mubadala Capital, an investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, said on LinkedIn.

At Eaton, a U.S. private equity firm based in Stamford, Conn., Shmuel was Managing Director and Head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa division in London.

Shmuel is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University in the U.K. and previously worked as a research analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Mubadala Capital was founded in 2011 as the sovereign wealth fund’s alternative investment arm and manages about $30 billion in assets. In 2017, Mubadala became the first sovereign wealth fund to manage third-party capital on behalf of global institutional investors.

In April, TWG Global, the U.S. investment firm led by financiers Mark Walter and Thomas Tull, took a 5% stake in Mubadala Capital. In December, Mubadala Capital acquired a 42% stake in Los Angeles-based credit asset manager Silver Rock Financial.

Barclays is putting together two of its senior bankers as joint chief executives to bolster its growing business in the Middle East.

The London-based lender said it promoted Khaled El Dabag and Walid Mezher to preside over banking activities from its regional headquarters in Dubai. They will report to Stephen Dainton, Head of Investment Bank Management.

“As the Middle East continues to play a bigger role in shaping global capital markets and attracting more wealth, the region is also becoming increasingly important to Barclays’ overall success,” Dainton said in a statement.

Mezher has been head of markets for the MENA region since 2017. El Dabag, who joined the Barclays from Goldman Sachs more than a decade ago, has been leading investment banking locally and was acting as CEO of the broader region, Bloomberg reports.

Meanwhile, Laura Hinton, a managing partner at PwC in the U.K. is being considered to head the accounting firm’s Middle East operations, the FT reports.

The Cleveland Clinic, a pioneering U.S. medical center, has tapped Peng Xiao, Chief Executive of UAE tech powerhouse G42, to chair its Abu Dhabi branch.

The hospital announced on Wednesday that Peng was picked to lead the board as part of its effort to improve patient care through employing artificial intelligence in medical diagnostics and innovative treatments.

G42, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group and shareholders including Mubadala Investment Co. and Microsoft, has been at the forefront of the UAE’s efforts to become a leader in AI infrastructure and other advanced technologies. Peng has been CEO since its founding in 2018.

The Cleveland Clinic’s CEO and President, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, hailed the appointment, saying in a statement that Peng will help the hospital “continue to grow as a beacon of excellence and innovation in the region.”

Peng expressed his commitment to expanding Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s services by marshaling the country’s technological resources.

“By combining the hospital’s renowned clinical expertise with advanced artificial intelligence, we will deliver earlier diagnoses, more precise therapies, and better outcomes for every patient,” Peng said.

French defense and technology giant Thales is advancing plans to deepen its footprint in Saudi Arabia through a radar production facility and expanded cooperation with Saudi Arabian Military Industries.

The goal, Pascale Sourisse, senior executive vice-president of international development at Thales, told The National, is to bolster the kingdom’s air defense capabilities and contribute to its broader strategy of localizing military production and becoming a global defense supply chain player.

This partnership aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 ambitions, aiming to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, create skilled jobs for Saudis, and boost domestic technical expertise.

With military spending reaching over $80 billion in 2024, Saudi Arabia remains a key market for Thales’ long-term growth and innovation in defense technologies, Sourisse said.

While focusing on the kingdom, Thales is also pursuing plans to establish an AI research center in Abu Dhabi, marking its first such hub in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is looking to further broaden its interests in professional sports after becoming a global power in competitions ranging from golf and soccer to mixed martial arts.

SURJ Sports, an investment arm of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, is in talks to invest in the organizers of the T100 Triathlon World Tour as part of plans to grow the series, Bloomberg reports.

The Saudi fund is negotiating with the London-based Professional Triathletes Organisation and it’s unclear how much SURJ will invest, the news agency said.

The PTO aims to turn triathlons into a professional sport. Last year, it launched the T100 Triathlon World Tour, which covers a total distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles), including an 80-kilometer bike ride, an 18-kilometer run and a 2-kilometer swim.

Cordillera Investment Partners, a San Francisco-based investment fund, invested $10 million into the PTO in March, Bloomberg reports. Other investors in the PTO include Warner Bros. Discovery.