|TAP Special| Citibank has lost a key decision in its defense of a lawsuit in Abu Dhabi accusing the bank of self-dealing, defrauding investors, and attempting to cover-up investor losses. The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court of First Instance on April 14, 2015 determined the lawsuit should proceed and ordered the appointment of a Committee of Experts to review evidence and determine Citibank’s culpability. The Court’s decision is […]
Talhouk … turning data into insights. Microsoft summit highlights data analysis trends DUBAI, 1 days ago The second Microsoft Dynamics Summit, which concluded recently in Dubai, UAE has provided new insights on how Dynamics tools will enable organisations to more effectively make sense of data and fuel greater speed and precision in decision-making. The summit took place at Jumeirah Beach Hotel and attracted hundreds of business leaders, […]
Alitalia SpA may follow British Airways parent IAG in quitting the Association of European Airlines as a rift widens over the competitive threat from Gulf carriers, which are the biggest shareholders at both companies. “A strong signal is needed and other airlines have already done that,” Alitalia Chief Executive Officer Silvano Cassano, whose Rome-based company is 49 percent owned by Etihad Airways PJSC, said in an interview. […]
|By TAP Staff| The Middle East is set to witness $640 billion worth of construction projects, with each one exceeding $1 billion in the next five years, according to organizers of the Leaders in Architecture MENA 2015, being held in Dubai from today. These projects are spread across a combination of retail, real estate, leisure, health and education asset developments as well as transport, communication and supporting […]
Deutsche Bank must pay the largest ever fine levied by the regulator of Dubai’s financial free zone for what the watchdog described as “serious contraventions” by the German lender’s wealth management business in the emirate. The $8.4 million levy from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the latest regulatory blow for the Frankfurt-based lender, which faces billions of euros in potential claims or settlements over alleged […]
Deloitte appoints director forensic services in Saudi RIYADH, 3 days ago Deloitte Corporate Finance in the Middle East has appointed Abdullah Farid Shaker as principal director of forensic and financial advisory services, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I am delighted to welcome Abdullah to our team, whose joining reflects the growing need for financial advisory services in the Middle East and in KSA specifically,” said Humphry Hatton, CEO […]
Ameen … new role. Deutsche Bank appoints new COO for MEA DUBAI, 3 days ago Deutsche Bank AG announced today the appointment of Javeed Ameen as chief operating officer (COO) for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Ameen will be based in Dubai, UAE, and report to Ashok Aram, CEO Middle East and Africa, and Karl von Rohr, global chief operating officer regional management. Ameen replaces […]
A $1.5 billion nine-year loan for Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is being marketed to banks after receiving commitments from seven lenders to fully back the financing, three sources aware of the matter said on Thursday. The syndication phase was launched on Wednesday and will allow additional lenders to join in the facility, which ENOC said in January it would raise for general business purposes and […]
Apollo Global Management is in talks to expand its business into the Middle East for the first time through a joint venture with a local investment firm, three sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The move is the latest sign of interest in the region from large Western private equity funds. They are searching for opportunities in previously-unexplored markets due to low-yield environments at […]
The specter of an atomic arms race in the world’s most volatile region has heightened the stakes in Iran’s nuclear talks after Saudi Arabia’s repeated hints it would seek its own atomic weapons if Tehran ever did the same. Riyadh’s unprecedented action in assembling a coalition of other Sunni Muslim countries to bomb Tehran’s Houthi allies in Yemen this week has shown how seriously it takes the […]
|By TAP Staff| According to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the banking industry in the Middle East maintained double-digit revenue growth in 2014 with a 10.0 percent increase, stemming largely from major customer segments such as retail and corporate banking as well as international business and treasury. Based on the banks’ 2014 annual results released in the first quarter of 2015, the newest […]
Iraqi security forces in Tikrit, Iraq, on Monday. By ROD NORDLAND March 30, 2015 TIKRIT, Iraq — Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations used a visit to Baghdad on Monday to warn the Iraqi government to treat civilians decently after it liberates territories like Tikrit, where a government offensive has been supported by heavy American-led airstrikes for the past five days. “Civilians freed from the brutality of […]
|By Shakir Noori| The images captured by mobile cameras flicker across the television screen, much in the manner of old Hollywood wild-west movies. The blue waves of the Mediterranean turn crimson with the blood of Egyptian workers in Libya, transforming the small screen into an inferno of bloody rivulets. And yet again, as I sit a spectator to Daesh’s (self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) […]
DIFC posts 18pc growth in companies DUBAI, 23 hours, 54 minutes ago Dubai International Financial Centre, a leading financial hub connecting the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (Measa) markets with the economies of Europe, Asia and the Americas, has posted an 18 per cent growth in the number of active registered companies. More than 240 new companies were licensed during the last year, compared with 199 […]
EFG Hermes posts $70m profit on bank expansion CAIRO, 1 days ago Egypt’s EFG Hermes turned a profit after tax and minority interests of EGP538 million ($70.51 million) last year after a net loss of EGP540 million the year before, helped by strong growth in its regional investment banking operations, the bank said. The company, one of the Middle East’s largest investment banks, said profit was boosted […]
Lloyds Banking Group and Natixis have sold their holdings in debt of Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate nearing a $14.6 billion debt restructuring, according to sources familiar with the matter. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) also sold at least part of its exposure in the conglomerate, said two sources, which could mean more than $1 billion of Dubai World’s debt has changed hands. The moves help pave […]
Salim Al Aufi, Oman’s undersecretary for oil and gas, likens attempts to cut the reliance on oil during a price slump to acting “with a gun pointed at your head.” If you have to make decisions under pressure, “you will probably make the wrong ones,” he said March 3 in Muscat during a panel discussion on the impact of the oil shock. Oman relied too much on […]
| By Michael Sasso| If you have to fly from New York to New Delhi on April 1, you can book through one of the three big U.S. airlines for at least $1,100 round trip. Or you can take one of Emirates’ luxurious Airbus A380s for less than $900. That choice is at the heart of the complaint raised by Delta, American, and United Continental with U.S. […]
Traders who have been storing oil since the start of the year are selling some supplies back into the market, completing a trade-play that made oil storage profitable, and re-injecting fuel into an already oversupplied market. The selling signals a winding down of a strategy that has seen at least 50 million barrels of oil stored in tankers, equivalent to about one month’s consumption in Britain, although […]
Dubai’s Drydocks World, owner of the Middle East’s largest shipyard, will ask creditors to amend the terms of its $2.3 billion restructuring deal originally signed in 2012, two sources aware of the matter said on Sunday. The move comes as Dubai World, a state-owned conglomerate which is also Drydocks’ parent company, is close to finalizing a revision of its own $14.6 billion debt pile which stems from […]
The proposal by Dubai Municipality to introduce mandatory affordable housing quotas for all new residential developments in Dubai is long overdue and is expected to bring a wide range of benefits to the emirate, while driving further maturity in the market, according to leading international real estate consultants, Cluttons. With the residential market in Dubai now meandering through the second half of the current property cycle and […]
Oil and gas companies will spend about $450 billion buying each other this year as lower valuations caused by a drop in crude prices stimulate mergers and acquisitions, according to consultants A.T. Kearney. The value of M&A transactions in the oil and gas industry will probably rise by $10 billion from last year when deals totaled $440 billion, said Richard Forrest, A.T. Kearney’s lead partner for energy. […]
Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium.Image: Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee November/December ‘the best World Cup option’ LONDON, 4 days ago By Mike Collett The Fifa Task Force set up to recommend the best time of year to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were always in an impossible position, from the moment they sat down to consider the options. But Tuesday’s recommendation to stage it over November and […]
Gen Odierno said that British defence cuts are already jeopardising US-UK joint operations Photo: AP Ever since the Cold War ended more than two decades ago, America has never entertained any serious doubts about Britain’s ability to fulfil its commitment as a vital military ally when tackling threats to the Western alliance. Until now. For the dramatic cuts to Britain’s defence budget implemented since the Coalition took power […]
