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Banking & Finance

Banking & finance news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Israel’s Playtika offers $738m for Angry Birds maker

Playtika Holding Corp on Thursday sweetened its offer for Finnish game maker Rovio, best known for its “Angry Birds” franchise, to €683 million ($737.50 million), as a consolidation in the industry gathers pace. The offer values each share of Rovio at €9.05, about 60 percent higher than the company’s closing price on January 19. It […]

Turkey’s central bank holds interest rate at 9%

Turkey’s central bank held interest rates at nine percent for a second straight month on Thursday, and analysts said it could return to easing in the run-up to May elections given inflation is expected to drift lower from 64 percent last month. The central bank (CBRT) said the inflation level and trend have improved due […]

The merger is part of First Bank Abu Dhabi's strategy to increase its footprint in Egypt

First Abu Dhabi Bank raises $600m via unsecured bonds

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest lender in the UAE, sold $600 million in senior unsecured bonds maturing in 5-1/4 years, a bank document showed on Wednesday. FAB sold the bonds at a spread of 105 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries from initial guidance of around 130 bps over the same benchmark after […]

Foundations UAE

Rise of UAE foundations as wealth management sector matures

The UAE’s richest people are increasingly setting up foundations to structure and preserve their wealth for the future. Regional wealth managers told AGBI they have noticed a “significant increase” in the number of foundations being established in the UAE, and in the volume of enquiries they are receiving about setting one up. Bradley Moran, an […]

Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters in Cairo

Egypt’s banks can cope with sharp currency drop, say experts

Egyptian banks can withstand the impact of further currency depreciation as they are supported by “healthy internal capital generation”, analysts say. Fitch Ratings report that large private sector banks are better placed to deal with a weaker pound than the two largest public banks, National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, due to their higher […]

Cybercrime in the UAE has risen over the past 12 months

Anti-money laundering order in UAE to tackle stolen IDs

The UAE’s latest anti-money laundering guidance aims to tighten up rules related to digital IDs. While it will have little impact for traditional banks, it may weed out some of the weaker players in the fast-growing fintech sector. The advice issued by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) last week focused on the use […]

Vodafone is among the leading tech companies opening offices in Egypt

UAE telco increases stake in UK’s Vodafone to 12%

UAE telecom operator e&, formerly Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, has increased its stake in the UK’s Vodafone Group. In a statement published on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the telco said it had purchased a total of 3.272 billion shares, representing 12 percent of Vodafone’s issued share capital, excluding treasury shares. The financial details of the […]

Scaramucci’s SkyBridge expects bitcoin at $35,000 this year

SkyBridge Capital is betting on a sustained turnaround in cryptocurrency markets in 2023, the firm’s founder Anthony Scaramucci said, while admitting this view was “overly bullish”. “If bitcoin could trade back to $35,000, SkyBridge is going to have an amazing year,” Scaramucci told the Reuters Global Markets Forum in Davos, Switzerland. January’s crypto rally could be sustained as […]

People, Person, Crowd

Saudi Arabia open to trade in currencies other than US dollar

Saudi Arabia is open to exploring trade in currencies other than the US dollar, Bloomberg TV reported, citing finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan. “There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the US dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” he added. […]

Brick, Building, Architecture

Turkish firm acquires Whirlpool’s Middle East and Africa business

US home appliances maker Whirlpool is folding its European business into a new company controlled by Turkish rival Arcelik, reducing its exposure to a market where it had warned attractive profit margins could be some way off. Whirlpool also said it had agreed to sell its Middle Eastern and African businesses to Arcelik, which the […]

People, Person, Man

Qatari bank Dukhan set to list on Doha’s main market

Dukhan Bank, Qatar’s fifth-largest bank, is planning to go public and list on the Doha stock exchange. The bank, which has total assets in excess of QR100 billion ($27.5 billion), agreed the proposal at an extraordinary general assembly meeting on Sunday. Its share capital will be listed on the main market of the Qatar Stock Exchange […]

Office Building, Building, High Rise

UAE’s Mashreq obtains digital banking license in Pakistan

UAE’s Mashreq has acquired a digital banking license under the digital regulatory framework issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the bank said in a statement. Ahmed Abdelaal, group CEO, Mashreq, said the move will act as a catalyst in leading the evolution of digital finance and the wider digital economy in Pakistan through […]

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala acquires US-based Dental Care Alliance

Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Company has acquired US-based Dental Care Alliance (DCA), a dental services organisation with nearly 390 allied practices, state-run WAM news agency reported. The investment was made in collaboration with funds managed by Harvest Partners, a US-based private equity firm focused on middle-market companies. DCA is one of the largest […]

Person, Man, Adult

Israel worried looser fiscal policy could stop inflation from easing

Bank of Israel policymakers expressed concern that the new government will boost spending too much and harm its ability to return inflation to its one to three percent annual target. Minutes from the January 2 rates decision showed that the monetary policy committee was mostly upbeat that price pressures were starting to ease, saying some […]

Manchester United set up shop with luxury lounge in Swiss Alps

Manchester United set out a dazzling Davos shop front this week, but insisted its lounge was to entertain clients and partners rather than to attract buyers for the English soccer club. United said in November it was looking at options to either get new investment or explore a potential sale, 17 years after the Glazer […]

Investcorp Corsair will continue to focus on transportation, logistics and associated infrastructure subsectors

Bahrain’s Investcorp to expand southeast Asia footprint

Bahrain-based Investcorp is working on multiple initiatives in Indonesia, including one in partnership with the nation’s sovereign wealth fund as it seeks to expand its footprint in southeast Asia, the firm’s co-chief executive officer said. “We have two terrific initiatives in Indonesia right now, and hopefully, a third very soon in partnership with the local […]

BlackRock

BlackRock’s Larry Fink welcomes rise in Gulf clients

BlackRock is attracting more investors from the Middle East, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager told analysts this month. The US-based firm established a wholly-owned Saudi subsidiary in 2018, opened an office in Riyadh in 2019 and in February 2022 received approval from the market regulator to start managing investments and operating funds […]

UAE pledges to invest $30bn in South Korea

The UAE has agreed to invest $30 billion in South Korea’s industries, South Korea’s presidential office said, as the two countries seek to expand economic cooperation. The investment decision was announced as South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol met his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi during a four-day state visit, Yoon’s […]

Turkey lira

Turkey cancels required reserves for longer maturity lira deposits

Turkey’s central bank has cut the required reserves of Turkish lira deposits to zero percent with maturities longer than three months, from varying percentages between three and eight percent, the bank said on Sunday. “To encourage maturity extension of lira deposits, the bank has decided to set reserve requirement ratios for lira deposit accounts with […]