Actress Emma Thompson and her daughter Gaia take part in the “People’s Climate March” in central London Photo: REUTERS Down with climate change! Listen – and heed – Emma Thompson’s dire warning on global warming! There now, how’s that? Having satisfied everyone’s environmental conscience, let’s tackle the other burning (but, let me stress, not fossil-fuel) issue at the heart of the People’s Climate March in London at the […]
The Dubai International Financial Centre DIFC plans $700m sukuk issue by end-October DUBAI, 1 days ago DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the company running Dubai’s financial free zone, is seeking to raise as much as $700 million by issuing a sukuk to help repay existing debt and fund real estate development, its top executive said on Sunday. The company aims to finalise the ijara-structured deal by […]
Hilal Computers wins top marketing awards MANAMA, 1 days ago Bahrain-based computer systems integrator and solutions provider Hilal Computers has received two prestigious awards from multinational technology firm Dell. Al Hilal Group general manager Geoffrey Milne and regional computer operations director Roshan George received the awards “ for platinum partner of the year and strategic penetration of the Saudi Arabian market” from Dell founder and chief executive […]
Payment transaction using Fawry Egypt’s Fawry launches new payment platform CAIRO, 1 days ago Fawry, Egypt’s leading nationwide Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) platform, has announced the launch of a new payment service that will enable customers to directly pay their traffic fines via the Fawry network of payment channels. The new service, which is made possible by an agreement signed with the Public Prosecution, marks […]
Image: Bigstockphoto. For illustration purpose only How UAE’s private sector can improve Emiratisation DUBAI, 1 days ago There has been an increasingly competitive talent attraction landscape amongst UAE businesses for some time now, with many companies, particularly in the private sector, struggling to recruit enough Emirati nationals to fulfil goals laid out by the government. Gavin Smith, managing director of ReThink MEA, a specialist recruiter in the […]
Hedge funds extended this year’s longest exit from bullish gold bets as slumping prices and investor outflows since June erased $6.7 billion from the value of exchange-traded funds backed by the metal. The net-long position in New York futures and options fell for a fifth straight week, with speculators boosting short bets to the highest since June, U.S. government data show. Investors sold 7.75 metric tons of […]
In an effort to make open source security tools more user friendly, Google and Dropbox announced Thursday that they have teamed up with the Open Technology Fund to form “Simply Secure.” The goal of the new non-profit organization is to “help craft usably secure technologies and make them available for everyone.” This is the second time this week a major technology company has launched an open source […]
The online review site Yelp and mobile game company TinyCo have both settled separate charges with the Federal Trade Commission that they improperly collected information from children under the age of 13 through their mobile apps. Both settlements were for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998. Under its agreement with the FTC, Yelp will pay a civil penalty of $450,000 and must […]
Three years after its first foray into the Islamic capital markets ended without a sale, investors piled in to buy sukuk debt from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) yesterday as the bank joined the governments of Hong Kong and the U.K. in selling debut Shariah-compliant bonds this year. The New York-based lender attracted bids for three times the $500 million of sukuk it sold yesterday, according to […]
|By TAP Staff| The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority plans to introduce new rules that will make it easier for local companies to raise resources from the market through dirham-denominated bonds. The new rules will also seek to reduce the cost of issuing bonds while making it faster for companies to issue and list their bonds. “We would like to see more active bond and sukuk markets […]
China will launch its international gold exchange 11 days ahead of schedule, sources said on Tuesday, racing ahead in the scramble to set up an Asian bullion benchmark as rival Singapore is forced to delay its gold contract due to technical issues. Asia, home to the world’s top two gold buyers – China and India, has been clamouring to gain pricing power over the metal and challenge […]
ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said on Monday that several exiled leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood who fled to Qatar but lately have come under pressure to leave that Persian Gulf monarchy could perhaps find a new refuge in his country. “If they make any request to come to Turkey, such an application would be assessed and examined,” Mr. Erdogan said, according to a […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties said the IPO of its shopping malls business unit has been sold out to institutional investors on the first day itself. The leading developer aiming to raise as much as AED 5.8 billion ($1.58 billion) from the offer of shares in Emaar Malls Group (EMG), which is expected to be the Gulf’s biggest stock sale since 2008. On offer are 2 billion […]
Boom and bust – two words that are regularly heard when the property market in the United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai, is discussed. But that theme appears to be changing. At least that’s what some industry experts are indicating. The property market, after rebounding sharply since early 2013 from the global financial crisis-induced crash, is now showing signs of stabilising – with the pace of growth in […]
Jeremy Paxman, who is a quarter Scot, would have like a say in the future of the Union Photo: PA/BBC On Thursday, the English will discover what the Scots really think of them. Like the final row in a troubled marriage, it could be the event that serves to separate those we were once told God had joined together. The decision is not for those of us who […]
Secretary of State John Kerry and Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, in Cairo. By MICHAEL R. GORDON and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK September 13, 2014 CAIRO — Secretary of State John Kerry received broad assurances but no public commitments from Egypt on Saturday as he continued his tour of the Middle East to try to assemble a coalition behind an American campaign against the extremist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq […]
|By TAP Staff|The rising popularity of Islamic finance in the West is prompting analysts to conclude that the world is finally recognizing the fact Islamic finance is not just for Muslims and it ready to go mainstream. Islamic finance received a shot in the arm recently with the move by US investment bank Goldman Sachs to revive plans to issue its first sukuk. In June when the […]
|By TAP Staff| Asia is giving expression to its growing disenchantment with the prevailing West-centred gold pricing mechanism by setting in place its own benchmarks that reflect the region’s market dynamics. China and Singapore are preparing to launch physical bullion contracts with an eye on gaining pricing power of the metal at a time when the global benchmark is under scrutiny. CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives […]
Stock index provider MSCI Inc is considering changing its rules to allow shares of Alibaba Group Holding and other companies that list their shares in faraway markets to be included in its widely used indexes. The MSCI announced that it was considering changing its rules last week, but did not explain the reason for the changes: questions from investors amid the Alibaba initial public offering, Reuters has […]
Investors in Dubai continued to accumulate cash in early trade on Thursday ahead of the $1.4 billion initial public offer of Emaar Malls Group, a subsidiary of Emaar Properties, the largest listed developer in the emirate. The Dubai index fell 1.3 percent as most stocks were in the red. Emaar itself was the main drag, falling 1.8 percent as its shares no longer entitled their holders to […]
By K Raveendran at CeBit Eurasia, Istanbul Deutsche Messe, organisers of CeBIT technology shows and global conferences, is keenly watching the success of Dubai’s Gitex but is for the present content with carrying on with CeBIT Eurasia Turkey as the regional edition, although the leading global technology show organizer considers Dubai as a most desirable venue. Deuteche Messe apparently believes that Gitex is such a strong contender […]
|By TAP Staff|Goldman Sachs is meeting investors this week for the sale of a dollar-denominated, benchmark-sized sukuk issue through its unit JANY Sukuk Co., people with knowledge of the deal said. The New York-based lender’s first foray into the Islamic capital markets three years ago ended without a sale amid criticism from scholars about the structure of its sukuk program and the use of funds raised. This […]
|By TAP Staff| Gold traded near a three-month low as the dollar advanced on speculation the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates next year, curbing demand. Gold has declined 5.2 percent this quarter as the outlook for higher borrowing costs reduced demand for an inflation hedge. Fed policy makers will meet Sept. 16-17. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of 10 […]
General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can travel on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal. The 2017 Cadillac model will feature “Super Cruise” technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and braking at highway speeds of 70 miles per hour or in stop-and-go congested traffic, Chief Executive […]
