Plans by Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) to raise a $750 million bond to boost the lender’s core capital reserves are off the table for the immediate future after shareholders rejected the proposal, a bank official said on Sunday. The rejection is a rare case of shareholder rebellion in the Gulf, where votes usually rubber-stamp decisions made by the board of directors and executive management. Last month, […]
LEBANON. On Sept. 11, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic of Lebanon to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. RATIONALE The outlook revision stems from our view that political uncertainty in Lebanon and regional tensions will continue to weigh on economic growth in the mediumterm. In […]
Middle East News Analysis By PETER BAKER and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS September 11, 2015 WASHINGTON — Having beaten back a congressional campaign to derail his nuclear agreement with Iran, President Obama now faces a panoply of challenges that may be just as daunting: making the deal actually work while repairing relations with disaffected allies and constraining Tehran’s regional ambitions. He got started Friday even as the House was still voting by announcing […]
A Yahoo logo is pictured in front of a building in Rolle, 30 km (19 miles) east of Geneva, in this file picture taken December 12, 2012. Reuters/Denis Balibouse/Files REUTERS – Yahoo Inc’s media head, Kathy Savitt, has decided to leave, a company spokeswoman said. Savitt will join film and television studio STX Entertainment in October as president of its digital business, STX said. Yahoo is planning […]
The Dubai Health Authority has awarded contracts worth Dh24 million ($6.5 million) to Emirati entrepreneurs in the last three and a half year, falling under the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) classification, according to a top officials. Eman Khalfan Al Jallaf, director of purchasing and contracts department at the DHA, said that in line with the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime […]
The UAE’s Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising of businesses engaged in money exchange and remittances in the country, has ramped up its awareness strategy to combat cybercrime. The strategy focuses on disseminating information to member exchange houses to combat cybercrime activities costing the global economy over $110 billion every year, said a statement. Rajiv Raipancholia, FERG secretary and Orient Exchange’s chief executive officer, said: “Not […]
Huawei, a leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has launched a new Joint Innovation Center (JIC) in Saudi Arabia together with Saudi Aramco and King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). Located in Dhahran Techno Valley Innovation Center, the centre will be dedicated to the oil and gas industry, jointly working with the leading oil and gas company and the university, said a statement. […]
UAE. As Dubai continues to roll out developments fueling the expansion of the city, there has been pressure on developers to build affordable homes to support the middle-income groups (earners between 3k-10k AED). In the last year, a flurry of new projects has been launched to cater to this segment. As the markets have matured and slowed down, developers have catered to affordability, more often by reducing […]
UAE. Latest business survey data pointed to a robust and accelerated expansion in Dubai’s private sector output during August. Furthermore, the rate of business activity growth was the fastest seen since May, with all three monitored sub-sectors reporting stronger output growth in the latest survey period. The rebound in activity growth was underpinned by a stronger expansion in new business, which increased at the strongest rate in […]
Developers and IT pros have been test-driving a preview of Office 2016 since March, but the final version is now set to launch starting September 22. Microsoft said the “seminal” release will be chock full of new IT management features. The new suite of Office applications will give Office 365 ProPlus business subscribers a choice of two types of ongoing updates. As they have in the past, […]
UAE. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, has today published a special report on the middle-income housing segment in the Middle East and North Africa region. The report highlights the social and economic impact of a marked shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, suggesting that significant efforts are needed to address the current imbalance. The report clearly outlines that this shortage […]
UAE. A report published today by international real estate advisor Savills has ranked the United States of America (USA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore respectively as the top three countries for residential investability on the basis of economic growth and market recovery. The new Savills World Residential Investability Ranking focuses on countries with cities and resort locations that have consistently attracted investor interest over recent […]
A customer points at a screen displaying a website of Alibaba’s Taobao at a rural service centre in Yuzhao Village, Tonglu, Zhejiang province, China, July 20, 2015. Reuters/Aly Song Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) said on Tuesday it expected second-quarter gross merchandise volume (GMV) to be lower than its initial estimates due to weaker consumer spending in China. The company’s shares reversed course and slipped as much […]
An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California May 28, 2014. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach/Files Ebay Inc released an upgrade to its mobile app for iOS and Android that provides more information to first-time sellers and includes a new dashboard for frequent sellers. Ebay has been trying to improve sales in its core marketplace business after spinning off PayPal Holdings Inc and selling its […]
|By TAP Staff| Polish financial software provider ‘Softax’ has developed an innovative white label sales and marketing solution for online banking called ‘LogoBank’ for the retail banking sector. The LogoBank system takes an individual ‘contextual’ approach to drive significantly more effective marketing of a lender’s products and services and radically improve customer satisfaction. Whilst the development of most online banking systems tends to focus on widening the […]
When it comes to Microsoft Windows 10, the momentum is huge. At least that’s the message Redmond is sending to the masses. Nick Parker (pictured), corporate vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, took the stage at the IFA 2015 consumer electronics show in Berlin today to talk about the new operating system and how much traction it’s gaining even in the early days of its release. “Our […]
Middle East Video The president and King Salman of Saudi Arabia met at the White House to discuss topics including the Iran nuclear deal and the conflict in Syria. By PETER BAKER September 4, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia met at the White House on Friday in hopes of moving past their differences four months after the king refused the president’s invitation to […]
Fast-growing, Portland, Oregon-based video-streaming infrastructure company Elemental Technologies is becoming a property of Amazon Web Services. AWS has reportedly clinched a deal to acquire Elemental, which will continue to operate under its own brand name, for $500 million. Founded in 2006, Elemental provides cloud-based software that lets its customers more easily reformat and stream video from live and on-demand sources onto laptops, tablets, smartphones and other devices. […]
A new update for Facebook’s Conversion Lift tool aims to make things a little easier for advertisers on the social network’s site. While the previous version compared audience members who were served ads and those who were not, the latest iteration will allow companies to compare multiple ads to see which are more effective. The updated version of Conversion Lift is designed to help advertisers discover which […]
Ailing Canadian handset maker BlackBerry Ltd. is working to reinvent itself and spending a pretty penny to do it. The company has agreed to buy Good Technology for $425 million in an all-cash deal. The Good acquisition certainly fits into BlackBerry’s strategy to offer customers stronger mobile security. Good is recognized as a leader in security mobility with solutions that cover all stages of the lifecycle for […]
Middle East Refugees from Syria walked down the railway in Horgos, Serbia, on Sunday before crossing into Hungary. By ANNE BARNARD September 4, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Arresting images of desperation on the West’s doorstep have brought Syria, for the moment, back to worldwide attention: refugees cramming into train stations and climbing border fences; drowned Syrian toddlers washing up on beaches, a girl in polka dots, a boy in […]
UAE. With a 54% decline in the price of oil prices during the past 12 months the United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate market is now beginning to feel the effect with property transaction levels falling across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, according to the latest research from international real estate consultancy, Cluttons. Cluttons’ annual 2015 UAE Property Report reveals that the direct correlation between hydrocarbon revenues […]
UAE. Management in the Gulf need to take more risks and develop staff to think creatively, according to a new global innovation survey designed to help companies stop wasting their best ideas and flushing hundreds of billions of dollars down the drain. Announced in Abu Dhabi today by PA Consulting Group, the report highlights an overwhelming view that leadership of organisations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and […]
ABU DHABI // In three days, the country’s philanthropists have donated Dh40.8 million for the devastated families of Yemen. On Sunday the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) launched its Yemen: We Care, or Relief for Yemen, fund-raising appeal to help millions of Yemenis suffering in the conflict. The campaign is a part of the UAE’s pledge to help nearly 10 million people affected by the crisis in Yemen. […]
