Open field for acquiring StanChart UAE assets

| By TAP Staff |With deadline fast approaching for Standard Chartered to exit part of its retail business, there is intense speculation over the likely suitor. Mashreqbank, one of the first names normally thrown up as a probable for such acquisitions, has ruled out any interest.

The British bank is aiming to sell part of its business in the UAE after it agreed to close some accounts there in an anti-money laundering settlement with authorities in the United States.

Nearly 8,000 accounts are reportedly affected by the settlement with the US authorities. Last week the UAE Central Bank said the closure of accounts in the UAE due to the settlement with US authorities could attract legal liabilities for Standard Chartered in the UAE.

Standard Chartered has to sell or wind down some part of its retail business in the UAE, as part of a settlement reached with the US authorities in the wake of compliance lapses. The bank has 90 days to clear its problematic businesses.

With Mashreq out of the scene, the other probable names include First Gulf, which has been showing very aggressive designs, ADCB, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank etc.

ADCB had keenly pursued Barclays assets when the British bank decided to sell its retail business in the UAE earlier this year. The deal, however, went in favour of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, which took over more than 100,000 customers of Barclays for about AED 650 million.