Saudi Arabia has accelerated steps to resolve a $22-billion debt dispute that is seen by investors as a litmus test of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's commitment to reforms, three sources familiar with the matter say. Legal battles over the debts left by Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi & Bros Co (AHAB) have dragged on for almost a decade since the two family conglomerates collapsed in 2009, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. From Switzerland to the Cayman Islands, the two groups have squabbled over which of them is to blame for the meltdown.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the hardest places in the world to collect unpaid debts, according to new research from Euler Hermes, the Financial Times reported. The trade credit insurer analysed debt collection processes around the world and ranked the results. China, Russia, Malaysia and South Africa also scored badly, appearing in the “severe” category in terms of the complexity of debt collection. Countries in western Europe came out better though, with Sweden at the top of the pile followed by Germany, Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands.

Protests over losses at loosely regulated credit institutions, which have hit millions of Iranians, smoldered through 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported. The resentment exploded…and provided the spark that set off the most sustained unrest in Iran in almost a decade. The complaints over financial fraud quickly morphed into a wider protest over an economy that hasn’t performed to expectations, especially following a landmark nuclear deal in 2015 that eased Western sanctions but didn’t do much to improve living standards.

Inflation has fallen, the economy is finally growing after years of recession and, thanks to the easing of some international sanctions, Iran’s crude oil is once again being sold overseas, the Irish Times reported. But many in the Islamic Republic believe that, if anything, the economic situation has worsened. Despite high hopes that the nuclear deal agreed with western powers in 2015 would deliver an economic bonanza, daily life remains hard and there are not enough jobs for an army of unemployed youth.

Management missteps and tectonic shifts in the pharmaceutical business have battered Teva, which faces declining prices for generic drugs and the loss of a patent on a major branded drug, the New York Times reported. More than $20 billion has been shorn from the company’s market capitalization since 2017 began, cutting Teva’s value roughly in half. Everyone in Israel knew that layoffs and plant closings were coming, but what was expected was something akin to painful trims. Instead, on Dec. 14, Teva announced what amounted to an amputation.

Israel’s markets regulator will propose regulation to ban companies based on bitcoin and other digital currencies from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. Shmuel Hauser, the chairman of the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), told the Calcalist business conference he will bring the proposal to the ISA board next week. If approved, it would be subject to a public hearing and then the stock exchange bylaws would need to be amended. “If we have a company that their main business is digital currencies we would not allow it.

Dubai International Capital LLC reached an agreement with banks to roll over a loan of about $1 billion, Bloomberg News reported. The private-equity firm owned by the emirate’s ruler plans to extend the loan for three years and sign the agreement in the next few weeks. It’s the second time the firm is restructuring the loan. Banks are also asking DIC’s parent Dubai Holding LLC to pay $150 million under a payment guarantee as part of the first restructuring in 2012.

Three Israeli banks asked a court Wednesday to break up Eurocom Communications Ltd., saying it’s insolvent, Bloomberg News reported. The company is part of Shaul Elovitch’s Eurocom Group Ltd., the controlling shareholder of Israel’s largest telecommunications firm. Bank Hapoalim Ltd., Israel Discount Bank Ltd. and First International Bank of Israel Ltd. told Tel Aviv District Court that Eurocom Communications owes them 961 million shekels ($275 million), and asked the court to appoint lawyers to oversee the sale of assets pledged against the loans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will do its utmost to blunt the impact of job cuts at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. as the debt-saddled company carries out its restructuring plan, Bloomberg News reported. Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon will meet this week with Teva Chief Executive Officer Kare Schultz to try to “minimize the blow to workers,” according to an e-mailed statement from the prime minister’s office.

Qatari phone carrier Ooredoo QSC decided to bid for the insolvent owner of Turkey’s biggest telecommunications company to rival an offer from Saudi Telecom Co., three people with knowledge of the matter said. Ooredoo will seek to acquire Ojer Telekomunikasyon AS, or Otas, a special purpose vehicle that owns 55 percent of Turk Telekomunikasyon AS, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private, Bloomberg News reported. The Saudi proposal remains on the table, they said.