The headlines from this morning

Missed this morning’s edition of EnterpriseAM? Here are the top stories in a nutshell:

• So many people were taking out consumer loans to buy gold that the Financial Regulatory Authority banned consumer finance companies from financing gold and other precious metals. The regulator classed gold bullion and jewelry as investment tools rather than consumer goods, and the ban covers silver and platinum too;
• Egyptian farms can double or triple their output “with much less of an investment” than European growers spend chasing single-digit gains. The tools to get there are starting to show up locally, from cheap greenhouse controllers to leased state greenhouses and a planned substrate plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone;
• The Financial Regulatory Authority issued a model contract for short selling, ticking off another requirement ahead of the mechanism’s launch. Brokerages and investors borrowing shares to short will use a single template setting out each side’s obligations;
• Maersk hopes to have all of its shipping services back on the Suez Canal route by March 2027. Maersk COO Rabab Boulos gave that timeline to Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie during a video call on Tuesday, telling him the canal “remains the optimal choice” for the group.