Banking & Finance US fintech expands to offer UAE startups bank accounts A US fintech is accepting applications to open bank accounts from venture capitalists and tech startups with entities formed in the UAE, a move local industry experts say will be a “wake-up call” to the Gulf’s banking sector. Online-only banks – known as neobanks – have been cashing in on the collapse of Silicon Valley […] March 30, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank to raise $1bn via sustainable sukuk Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank is set to raise $1 billion with five-year sustainable Islamic bonds, according to a media report. The spread on the sukuk was set at 110 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries (UST), tightened from initial price guidance of around 150 bps over UST after demand topped $3.75 billion, Reuters reported, […] March 30, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey’s central bank approves 2022 dividend payout Turkey’s central bank decided to pay dividends from its 2022 accounting period to shareholders, including the treasury, it announced on Tuesday at its annual general meeting. The central bank profit stood at 72.02 billion lira ($3.77 billion), according to the country’s official gazette. Economists expect the central bank to transfer some 40 billion lira to […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance G20 watchdog to review lessons from recent bank rescues The G20’s financial stability board (FSB) said on Tuesday its members would review the lessons from recent actions by authorities in Switzerland, the United States and elsewhere to rescue ailing banks. Markets have been roiled by the collapse of US technology lender Silicon Valley Bank followed by the failures of other US regional lenders and […] March 29, 2023
Exclusive Banking & Finance Tax boon for wealth funds shows their value to UK, says minister The UK’s decision to scrap a planned tax on sovereign wealth funds highlights the importance the government places on Gulf investors, Britain’s investment minister has told AGBI. “I’m personally very pleased that we’ve decided to maintain the status quo,” said Dominic Johnson, a minister of state in the UK’s newly formed Department for Business & […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance Egypt faces pressure to devalue currency further The Egyptian pound lost ground on the black market again in recent days in a sign that halving its official value over the past year could still not be enough and the central bank may have to let it slide further. Despite its pledge in October to allow supply and demand determine exchange rates, the […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance Egypt central bank may hike interest rates to tame inflation Egypt’s central bank (CBE) is forecast to hike its overnight interest rates by 200 basis points (bps) on Thursday as it struggles to bring soaring inflation under control, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. After that meeting, the state statistics agency announced that annual inflation in January had surged to 25.8 percent and in February to 31.9 percent, […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance Kuwait sovereign fund to offload stake in Mercedes-Benz Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), a sovereign wealth fund, plans to reduce its stake in the German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz by selling 20 million shares. The Kuwaiti fund is the third-largest shareholder in Frankfurt-listed Mercedes-Benz. At price guidance of €69.27 ($18.86) per share, KIA may raise €1.385 billion ($1.5 billion), which will reduce its stake to […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance Ride-hailer Careem in talks with e& for super app investment Uber Technologies’ Middle East subsidiary Careem is in advanced talks with e&, formerly Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, to invest in its expansion into services beyond ride-hailing, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Careem began seeking outside investors last year to help finance its super app, which offers services outside its core ride-hailing […] March 29, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey’s banks hold internal stress tests ahead of May vote Big Turkish banks have launched internal stress tests against possible market shocks due to the May elections, and they are preparing for lower profits later in the year as a flurry of previous regulations bite, four industry executives said. The executives said the tests, conducted independently of yearly required reviews, are meant to weigh the […] March 28, 2023
Banking & Finance China spent $240bn bailing out ‘Belt & Road’ countries China spent $240 billion bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021. The amount soared in recent years as more have struggled to repay loans spent building “Belt & Road” infrastructure, according to a study published Tuesday. Almost 80 percent of the rescue lending was made between 2016 and 2021, mainly to middle-income countries […] March 28, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank plans dollar sustainable sukuk Al Rajhi Bank is planning to issue US dollar-denominated sustainable Islamic bond, as part of its international sukuk programme launched last year. Al Rajhi Capital, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Emirates NBD, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, KFH Capital and Standard Chartered are joint lead managers and bookrunners for the sukuk issuance, the Saudi-listed bank said in […] March 28, 2023
Banking & Finance UAE to benefit from US cryptocurrency brain drain Tightening regulations in the US to bring cryptocurrency and digital assets operators to heel could see talent and investment turn to the UAE. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been targeting the cryptocurrency industry, which its chair Gary Gensler referred to as a “Wild West”. At the same time the UAE is welcoming […] March 27, 2023
Banking & Finance SNB announces management changes after Credit Suisse fallout Ammar Al Khudairy has resigned as chairman of Saudi National Bank for “personal reasons”, it was announced on Monday, leading to a series of SNB management changes. SNB chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi has been appointed his successor, according to a statement on the Tadawul Saudi stock exchange. Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji, a graduate […] March 27, 2023
Banking & Finance Standard Chartered sells Jordan business as part of global strategy UK-based Standard Chartered will sell its business in Jordan to Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB), the banks said in a joint statement. Under the agreement, Standard Chartered’s corporate, commercial and institutional banking and consumer, private and business banking businesses in Jordan will be migrated to AJIB. All Standard Chartered Bank Jordan’s employees will be transferred […] March 27, 2023
Banking & Finance Swiss regulator mulls disciplinary action against Credit Suisse Swiss financial regulator Finma said it was considering whether to take disciplinary action against Credit Suisse managers after Switzerland’s second-largest bank had to be rescued last week by UBS. Finma president Marlene Amstad told Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag it was “still open” whether new proceedings would be started, but the regulator’s main focus was […] March 27, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance A first as Dubai bank prices $600m sukuk for US firm Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, has successfully priced a $600 million sukuk for New York-listed Air Lease Corporation. It marks the first sukuk issued by a US corporation. A sukuk is a Sharia-compliant financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance but that complies with Islamic religious law. The five-year sukuk saw robust demand, […] March 26, 2023
Banking & Finance Foreign investors test Turkey’s waters after years in the cold Scores of foreign investors are returning to Istanbul and Ankara after years in the cold for a flurry of meetings to understand whether Turkish elections could bring a tidal change for its economy and financial markets. According to several investors and bankers involved, large foreign lenders including BBVA and BNP Paribas organised trips and calls […] March 26, 2023
Opinion Banking & Finance From crisis to opportunity: Navigating SVB’s collapse The failure of SVB creates both challenges and opportunities for investors March 24, 2023
Banking & Finance Adnoc lines up another unit for Abu Dhabi listing Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) plans to launch an initial public offering of its maritime and logistics unit in June, Reuters reported, in what will be the government-owned conglomerate’s latest flotation of an ancillary business. Adnoc’s part-privatisation drive began in 2017. It has sold minor stakes in subsidiaries Adnoc Drilling, Adnoc Gas, Adnoc Distribution, […] March 24, 2023
Startup funding in Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 hit $1.2bn by 2022 end Startups at Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem Hub71 raised almost AED4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) collectively in venture capital from 2019 until the end of 2022. The number of startups rose 102 percent year on year to more than 200 in 2022, with 51 new early-stage companies relocating to the UAE’s capital to scale exponentially. More than […] March 24, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey holds policy rate at 8.5% to support growth after quakes Turkey’s central bank held its policy rate at 8.5 percent as expected on Thursday, saying it had become even more important to keep financial conditions supportive to preserve growth momentum after last month’s devastating earthquakes. In February the bank had cut its policy rate by 50 basis points to provide a stimulus in the wake […] March 24, 2023
