Bahrain’s central bank is finalising rules for the supervision of sharia-compliant advisory firms, part of a wider overhaul of standards as the Gulf state steps up its efforts in Islamic finance. Having been a pioneer of the sector, Bahrain is now competing with other centres such as Dubai, London and Kuala Lumpur for Islamic finance business. The rules would help small Islamic finance institutions and fund managers […]
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) will purchase a 25 percent stake in Indonesian Islamic lender Bank Panin Syariah, it said on Monday, as the United Arab Emirates-based bank looks to expand into the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Under the agreement, DIB – the largest Islamic bank in the UAE – will “jointly manage and operate” Bank Panin Syariah along with parent Bank Pan Indonesia, which will remain […]
Dubai’s index makes its one-day decline in eight months on Monday and technical indicators suggest it will fall further, while most other Middle East markets also retreated. Dubai fell 5.5 percent to 4,856 points, its lowest close in a month and biggest one-day loss since Aug. 27. “I think we’ll see more selling – the key is that Dubai broke and then closed below 5,000 points,” said […]
Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN has “no current plans” for a stock market flotation, its chief executive said on Sunday, following comments from its parent company that an initial share sale was expected to happen this year. OSN has operations across the Middle East and North Africa and annual revenue currently around $700 million. Last year, brokerage Arqaam Capital valued the company at $4.3 billion. Kuwait Projects […]
WASHINGTON — To those who lost loved ones in the suicide bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, in April 1983, it is often called “the forgotten bombing” — overshadowed by an even deadlier attack on a Marine barracks at the Beirut airport six months later. Now, a new book shines a spotlight on the embassy bombing, which killed 63 people, 17 of them American, including […]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The strike had entered its second day when construction workers at Labor Camp 42 got word that their bosses from the BK Gulf corporation had come to negotiate. Mohammed Amir Waheed Sirkar, an electrician from Bangladesh, scrambled down the stairs to meet them. But when he got to the courtyard, he saw the truth: It wasn’t the bosses who had come. […]
Mark Carney speaks during the bank’s quarterly inflation report news conference at the Bank of England in London Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis/REUTERS Britain’s economic revival has been helped by rising house prices in some parts of the country, but now the Bank of England is signalling that a bubble may have to be deflated. Yesterday, Mark Carney, the Bank’s Governor, felt moved to warn that the housing market has […]
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Saudi Arabia is considering trade measures against the Netherlands because of stickers resembling the kingdom’s flag and carrying anti-Islam slogans printed by far-right politician Geert Wilders. Local business daily Al Eqtisadiah reported on Friday that the chambers of commerce have received an order to ban Dutch companies from bidding for future projects in the country, halt visits of business […]
Egypt’s weak currency, unstable security situation, energy crisis and a government that’s almost bankrupt after three years of political uncertainty hardly make ideal conditions for a market rally. But even as periodic blackouts hit Cairo and Islamist militants carry out attacks on security forces, Egypt this week is welcoming its first initial public offering since a revolution toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Arabian Cement, a […]
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority met Thursday in London with Israel’s justice minister, Tzipi Livni, the first known face-to-face talks between the two sides since the American-brokered peace negotiations collapsed last month. Ms. Livni, one of Israel’s two chief peace negotiators, and Mr. Abbas had each met separately in London with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the breakdown of the talks […]
Happier days: Nick Clegg and David Cameron in 2010 agree to form a coalition government Photo: Getty Images Just before the general election, the Conservatives released a party political broadcast warning that a coalition would bring disaster. “Under-the-table deals will be the order of the day,” we were told. The fate awaiting savers was depicted by a hammer smashing a piggy bank. The process of proper government would […]
Saudi Arabian Mining Co will seek shareholder approval for a 5.6 billion riyal ($1.49 billion) rights issue to help to fund its expansion plans, the company said on Thursday. The company, better known as Ma’aden, intends to use the money to expand its phosphate and gold operations, as well as increase funding for its aluminium business, it said in a bourse filing, adding that a date for […]
Stock markets in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar will see relatively large one-off inflows of money at the end of May as funds tracking the MSCI indexes adjust their positions in line with updated benchmarks. MSCI will move stocks from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to its emerging market index from its frontier market benchmark at the end of May, meaning they will be tracked by […]
Equity index provider MSCI reclassified equities across a broad spectrum of markets on Wednesday as part of its semi-annual review, adding among others U.S. social networking company Twitter Inc to its world index. It reclassified Qatar and United Arab Emirates to emerging market from frontier-market status as expected. Qatar will have a 0.47 percent weighting in the MSCI Emerging Market index, while UAE will have 0.58 percent. […]
Damac Real Estate Development Ltd. (DMC) is bolstering Dubai’s drive to lead the global Islamic economy with serviced apartments that are Shariah-compliant from their financing to their restaurants and saunas. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB) is managing the project’s funding as Damac, which issued its debut sukuk last month, sells the certified Islamic residences, Niall Mc Loughlin, the Dubai-based developer’s senior vice president of communication, said […]
Middle East borrowers are increasingly weighing Australian-dollar bonds as they seek to tap one of the world’s biggest sources of pension funds, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. Three regional lenders including National Bank of Abu Dhabi sold A$1.05 billion ($984 million) of debt this year, known as Kangaroo bonds, compared with two sales in 2013 for A$475 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “We expect to […]
Dubai is set to become a smart city in the next three years, which would see a thousand government services going smart along with other changes that will make daily life of the residents smoother. There will be service booths in public places like malls equipped with video conferencing, document scanning and printing services so that people can complete almost all paperwork without visiting any of the […]
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said domestic banks will be allowed to offer structured derivatives through their overseas branches even if these products are currently not allowed in India. The change marks a revision from rules passed in 2008 that mandated domestic lenders had to consult with the central bank before offering complex derivative products not allowed at home to overseas customers. Offshore branches of […]
Samsung Electronics Co Chairman Lee Kun Hee, who leads Asia’s biggest technology company and helps generate about a quarter of South Korea’s economic output, remains in stable condition after emergency surgery following a heart attack. Lee, 72, is at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul after being resuscitated following an acute myocardial infarction, Rhee So Eui, a spokeswoman for Samsung Group, said in an e-mailed statement. Lee, who […]
Kingdom Tower, the Saudi skyscraper set to be the world’s tallest building, will probably have construction funding in place by the end of the first half, the developer’s chief executive officer said today. The company is in talks to bring in Riyadh-based Alinma Bank as an adviser and lender, Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic Co., told reporters today on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai. […]
Gold fell to its weakest in a week early on Monday as the euro hovered near a one-month low on fears of policy action from the European Central Bank, but the metal recovered some losses on safe-haven demand over escalating violence in Ukraine. Spot gold eased 0.2 percent to $1,286.40 an ounce by 0313 GMT, after dropping to a one-week low of $1,279.60 earlier in the session. […]
The BSE Sensex and Nifty surged to its second consecutive record high on Monday as blue-chips including ICICI Bank rallied on hopes that exit pulls due after the close of markets would show opposition Bharatiya Janata Party winning a majority in ongoing elections. India’s five-week long elections are set to conclude on Monday, with exit polls from media organisations to be released starting after 6:30 p.m. The […]
Dubai International Capital, the private equity arm of Dubai Holding, today announced that it has signed an agreement for the sale of Mauser Group to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $1.7 billion. Mauser, which was acquired by DIC in 2007 in a deal that valued the Group at c. $1.1 billion, is a worldwide leading producer of rigid industrial packaging with approximately 4,400 employees and consolidated revenues […]
Dennis Lockhart, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, spoke to the American Business Council of Dubai on Sunday. Reuters Large Middle Eastern holders of U.S. Treasuries shouldn’t worry about the stability of their investments especially as the U.S. economy shows more signs of improvement following the worst recession in a generation, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Sunday. U.S. government debt has long been a key […]
