By Matein Khalid I first encountered Lebanon as a teenager after the fabled Choueifat College opened its first UAE campus in Sharjah, fleeing the civil war in the Chouf. My ignorance of the country I was to know and love as my own patrie was monumental. When a classmate told me he was a Darzi, I assumed his father was a tailor since Darzi means “tailor” in […]
Research and advisory firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) will launch The Report: Dubai 2020, its new analysis of the emirate’s economic development and investment opportunities, on Monday, December 9 at Nasdaq Dubai, The Exchange Building, DIFC. The event will include a roundtable, titled “Dubai Beyond Expo 2020”, at which leading representatives from the public and private sectors will share their views on how best to ensure the legacy of the world expo benefits the […]
Starting a company in the UAE is straightforward for both locals and foreigners. The following simple steps will guide you on how to start your company without any issues:
By Arabian Post Staff The changing landscape of the US$360 trillion (Dh1,321 trillion) global wealth is now more than four times the global GDP of US$88 trillion. The wealth per adult reached a new record high of US$70,850, or 1.2% above the level of mid-2018 with Switzerland topping the biggest gains in wealth per adult this year, according to a latest report by Credit Suisse. Aggregate global […]
By Matein Khalid I literally laughed when I heard that Goldman Sachs put a valuation range of $1.6 to $2.3 trillion on the Saudi Aramco IPO. One, a valuation range of $700 million only means the Goldie analyst bankers (deal promoters?) are clueless about what Saudi Aramco is really worth. Two, I cannot fathom how the financial markets will assign a valuation of 17 to 23 times […]
By Saifur Rahman Dubai: Emirates Group, which includes Emirates Airline and its ground handling and ticketing arm Dnata, reported an 8 percent growth in profits to Dh1.2 billion (US$320 million), despite a 2 percent decline in group revenues to Dh53.3 billion (US$14.5 billion) for the first six months of 2019-2020 financial year, starting April 1, 2019, compared to Dh54.4 billion (US$14.8 billion), during the same period last year, due to unfavourable […]
Mohamed Said Guedi, a Somaliland-Djibouti dual national, has been running successful businesses in East Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He is an entrepreneur who grew several businesses from start-ups to millions in annual sales through effective business planning, quality of products, creative sales techniques and innovative marketing.
Beirut, Lebanon (CNN)-Lebanon is on the verge of economic collapse unless an “immediate solution” can be found to end days of nationwide protests that have paralyzed the country, Central Bank Governor Riad Salame told CNN in an exclusive interview Monday. Lebanon’s banks have been closed since the demonstrations, sparked by a series of proposed austerity measures including a tax on WhatsApp calls, began nearly two weeks ago. “It’s a […]
Bahrain has been ranked among the top-10 most improved economies in the world in this year’s Doing Business 2020 report, up 19 places to 43rd place since last year in the World Bank’s assessment of 190 countries. The most improved economies are selected based on the number of economic programs and legislative reforms each country has enacted, and on how much their ease of doing business score […]
By Arabian Post Staff Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced a 45 percent growth in the Islamic assets being managed in the Centre over the past one year. Islamic finance is growing at 1.5 times the rate of traditional finance, and the Middle East, Africa, South Asia region (MEASA )continues to be a steady driver of this industry, fuelled by a number of jumbo sukuk issuances […]
Hassan Ali Mansoor Although the world is faced with geo-political and geo-strategic challenges that are destabilizing markets and economies across the globe, to its credit, the U.A.E. banking sector continues its march towards growth. One of the essential hedges or stabilizing pivots for the banking sector besides the across the sector positive reforms carried out by the UAE Central Bank are sukuks which are Islamic bonds. Put […]
By Hassan Ali Mansoor A noticeable trend around the world these days are media reports that paint a gloomy picture of the global economy. A particular focus of economists has been global banks and financial institutions. These reports claim that some banks have invested in risky portfolios that expose their customers to unnecessary risks. The precarious financial condition of Deutsche Bank, Germany, is quoted as an example […]
By Arjavi Indraneesh It is a no-brainer that when there is an increase in digital payments, a proportionate rise in fraud is a given. But India’s payment digitisation programme has gone ahead without a requisite improvement in the infrastructure for fraud detection and prevention. Over the past five years, the volume of digital payments has grown by a factor of 10 and an additional growth of 10 […]
By Matein Khalid So Boris Johnson was elected the leader of the Conservative Party by 66% of the Tory membership and thus he, not Jeremy Hunt, will go to Buck House to present his credentials to Her Majesty the Queen. This increases the risk of both no deal Brexit and a potential Tory vote of no confidence in parliament, led by Mrs. May’s Chancellor of the Exchequer […]
By Matein Khalid George Soros once observed “the big money in emerging markets is made when things go from Godawful to just plain awful”. So true. The point of maximum pessimism in an emerging market is often an opportune moment to accumulate its shares, ideally after a political, economic or financial systemic shock. I sold my entire Pakistan equities portfolio in summer of 2017 after the Supreme […]
By Matein Khalid The S&P 500 index trades at 2990 as I write. The risk-reward calculus on the broad index no longer flashes a buy signal to me. The economic data around the world has deteriorated at an accelerating pace, as the decline in global PMI’s, 9% fall in German factory orders and $13 trillion in in government debt trading at negative interest rates attest. Commodities prices […]
Arabian Post Staff A UAE bid to become a globally recognized internet security watchdog, empowered to certify the safety of websites for Firefox users, has failed with the browser maker Mozilla rejecting the country’s bid. Websites seeking designation as safe by internet browsers have to be certified by an outside organization, which will confirm their identity and vouch for their security. Mozilla said it made the decision […]
By Matein Khalid Goldman Sachs shares traded at 190 when I wrote this article, way below its 52 week high at 245 making it a Cinderella in global investment banking at only 8.5 times forward earnings. It is obvious that Goldman’s involvement in the $7 billion 1MDB sovereign wealth heist in Malaysia has led to global outrage, demands for a $6 billion in punitive fine by Prime […]
BY Aaditya Tangri We’ve all heard the dire warnings of our impending dystopian future. According to research by Deloitte, an estimated 35% of UK jobs are at high risk of automation in the next 10 to 20 years, whilst in the past 15 years technology has already contributed to the loss of over 800,000 jobs. Market research company Forrester predicts that 6% of US jobs will be […]
By Arabian Post Staff The return of Qatari and Saudi Arabian issuers to the market and high levels of liquidity in Indonesia as well as Turkey’s efforts to tap all available financing sources have boosted issuance of sukuk 17.6% in the first five months of 2019. Foreign currency issuances also increased 15.6% during the period, explained primarily by Turkey’s issuances but also issuances by Qatari banks and […]
By Matein Khalid Thanks to the orchestrated bullishness of a dozen Wall Street sell side analysts and the mother of all short covering rallies, Uber has managed to claw back its losses from 38 to its IPO offer price of $45 though the latest management disaster and sacking of Dara’s handpicked COO and marketing lady wunderkind will slam the shares tonight. Uber has also benefited from a […]
By Saifur Rahman Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the UAE’s first and largest Islamic lender, said, is set to acquire Noor Bank, enhancing Dubai’s position as the capital of Islamic economy and creating the region’s most powerful Shari’a banking group. The combined asset value is set to reach Dh275 billion post acquisition, it said. “The Board of Directors of Dubai Islamic Bank convened its meeting on 09/06/2019 and […]
By Arabian Post Staff ENOC Group has secured a five-year US$690 million term loan from a Chinese consortium of banks as China’s biggest financial institutions endorse the Group’s operational and financial health. The term loan will finance general corporate purposes as ENOC continues to fuel the local economy through its business divisions in exploration & production, supply & operations, terminals, fuel retail, aviation fuel and petroleum products […]
By Matein Khalid Citigroup, the third largest US money center bank, owns subsidiaries in Latin America whose pedigrees go back almost a century. For instance, Banamex, Citi’s subsidiary in Mexico, is the second largest corporate/retail bank south of the Rio Grande. So it was no coincidence that Citi shares got sandbagged to a recent 61 as President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico’s $350 billion exports […]
