Articles written by arabian post staff

Europe investment bankers mark decade’s worst January

Investment bankers in Europe are off to the leanest start to a year in a decade as dwindling income from deal-making and trading presses firms to reduce costs. Revenue from arranging mergers, loans and stock and bond offerings for clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 22 percent to $1.58 billion last month from the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by New York-based research […]

February 05

India’s IT staffing enters ‘middle age’

The executive suite is not the only place that is greying in India’s 40-year-old information technology sector. As the $108 billion industry enters middle age and its growth slows, the three-million-strong workforce is also getting older, making it harder to extract some of the cost advantages of the young, cheap labour for which it is known. Firms have had to change in order to attract and support […]

January 29

Markets

Tata Motors MD dead: suicide suspected

Karl Slym, managing director of Tata Motors Ltd, died after falling from a hotel room in Bangkok in what police said on Monday could be possible suicide. Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata’s Thailand unit in the Thai capital and was staying with his wife in a room on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel. Hotel staff found his body on Sunday on […]

January 27

Dubai seen needing more residential supplies

|By Parag Deulgaonkar| A wider economic upturn and rapid population growth will lead to a shortage of residential units in Dubai, believes a market participant. “I see a serious shortage… the government is diversifying into tourism-related projects. Schools, universities, theme parks and shopping centres are coming up and so many people will be employed and they all will require accommodation,” Samir Munshi, Managing Director, Orion Holdings, told […]

January 15

Emerging market investors face increased political risks

As the tidal wave of global central bank liquidity recedes in 2014, emerging market investors are growing more anxious about local political risks – and how to spot them early on. Developing economies have had a rough ride since the U.S. Federal Reserve first mooted a wind-down of its money printing last year. The looming withdrawal of easy cash worldwide pushed the dollar and Treasury yields up […]

January 12

Uncertainty over running of Abu Dhabi oil fields

The long-term future of fields that produce about half Abu Dhabi’s oil remains unclear with only one day of a 75-year partnership with western oil companies left to run. Some of the world’s largest energy companies – ExxonMobil , Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP – have been pumping crude from the Abu Dhabi desert for decades, taking payment in oil. From midnight on Friday, the 9.5 […]

January 11

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Compliance cost clips wings of Mideast banks

While it may be the most common given name in the world, the global banking system seemingly can’t cope with Mohammed and its various different spellings. When it comes to false positives – where a person or transaction is incorrectly flagged for contravening sanctions – the total at Middle Eastern banks is around twice that of many international lenders because of the high use of names like […]

December 25

NBAD to add 900 jobs for Expo boom

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) will take on more staff to grow its commercial business and tap the “enormous opportunities” created by Dubai’s successful 2020 World Expo bid, its CEO said, even as it pursues international expansion. The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest lender plans to add around 900 jobs to its current headcount of 6,500 next year across 18 countries, with a focus on new […]

December 10

Swiss banks told to join US compliance plan

Swiss authorities are urging banks to quash their doubts and enter a U.S. voluntary disclosure program aimed at uncovering American tax evaders. The Swiss financial watchdog Finma requested banks to decide by today whether they will join the first stage of the U.S. Department of Justice program by applying for non-prosecution agreements by the end of 2013. Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is scheduled today to respond […]

December 09

Banking & Finance, Economy

Labour shortage threatens Hong Kong future

Hong Kong restaurant owner Hudson Chang says he can’t lower the bar much further for hiring staff. He warns his employees repeatedly about sending messages on their iPhones during work hours. He pleads with them to be more pleasant to customers. Still, he can’t afford to fire anyone: He can’t be sure of finding a replacement. “We don’t really have much choice,” said Chang, 39, owner of […]

October 23

Sarasin unit to wind up India wealth operations

J. Safra Sarasin Group, a Swiss private bank, is shutting its Indian joint venture after it was unable to build significant scale in a competitive market hit by slowing economic growth, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. India remains a difficult market for global wealth managers, who were drawn by its longer-term prospects only to find revenues being squeezed by cut-throat competition, high staff costs […]

October 05

Govt shutdown would see Obama stripped to skeleton staff

A U.S. government shutdown means President Barack Obama will have fewer people to cook meals, do the laundry, clean the floors or change the light bulbs, according to a White House contingency plan. About three-fourths of president’s 1,701-person staff would be sent home. The national security team would be cut back, fewer economists would be tracking the economy and there wouldn’t be as many budget officials to […]

September 28

Sudan closes al-Arabiya bureau for covering riots

Sudan closed the bureau of al-Arabiya television station after complaining about its coverage of anti-government protests, the Saudi-owned station said. Authorities earlier summoned the Sudan correspondent to protest about its reports on recent unrest, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya said on its website. A source at the station said security agents had come to the Khartoum office and asked staff to leave. Sudanese officials could not be immediately reached […]

September 28

Real estate investors shun Egypt

A flight by foreign companies from violent unrest in Egypt threatens to drive up vacancy rates at offices and malls and prompt international investors to shift funds to sub-Saharan real estate. The army overthrew and imprisoned President Mohamed Mursi in July and the ensuing crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement has killed about 900 people. This has prompted many multinational companies to scale down their operations or […]

September 27

Featured, Markets

Libor rigging scandal set for action

U.S. and British authorities are hours away from fining ICAP, the world’s biggest interdealer-broker, and charging current and former staff in connection with the manipulation of the Libor benchmark interest rate. The rate rigging scandal, which has laid bare the failings of regulators and bank bosses, has already seen three banks fined $2.6 billion, four individuals charged, scores of institutions and traders grilled and a spate of […]

September 25

GEMS to sell 20% stake for $500m

GEMS Education, a Dubai-based schools operator, is seeking to raise about $500 million to fund growth by selling a stake of up to 20 percent in the privately owned company, Chairman Sunny Varkey said. GEMS, which employs about 11,000 staff, operates around 100 private schools across the Gulf region, home to many prosperous expatriates. Private schools in countries such as the United Arab Emirates are expanding rapidly […]

September 18

GCC Leads

Global retailers use Dubai as launch pad to regional markets

By The Arabian Post Staff International retailers continue to expand into the GCC region, often using Dubai as their ‘launch’ platform into other markets such as Doha, Riyadh and Jeddah, according to real estate consultancy firm CBRE. According to CBRE research, 25 new retailers opened stores in Dubai last year. A young population, strong brand association, solid household consumption and modern retail concepts coupled with a flourishing tourism […]

September 12

Russia’s Syria calculus:

The notion of Syria giving up its chemical weapons, or at least putting them under foreign control, has long been on the table in the consultations between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and his allies in Moscow. In the course of the civil war that has been raging in Syria for more than two years, “we discussed this possibility many times from many different angles,” says Russian […]

September 11

Economy, Markets

First Gulf to cut 10% workforce

First Gulf Bank (FGB), the United Arab Emirates’ third largest bank, is cutting about 300 jobs, equivalent to nearly 10 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring, sources familiar with the matter said. FGB, controlled by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, informed employees about the plan last week and the cuts will mainly affect its consumer banking business, the sources said. They were speaking on condition […]

September 11

Strike delay gives breather to Assad

It would hardly be a surprise to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or his military if American missiles start hitting Syria soon. With weeks to prepare for an attack, Assad might benefit in some ways from the delay in any strike caused by President Barack Obama’s decision to seek approval from a divided U.S. Congress. U.S. officials and defense experts say Assad’s forces cannot take enough targets out […]

September 05