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Banking & Finance

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

ADCB says it will provide services for corporate and institutional clients, including financing and working capital solutions, in its new Saudi operation

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to open Riyadh branch

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) will open a branch in Riyadh after obtaining in-principle approval from Saudi Arabia’s cabinet, the UAE’s third-largest lender has announced. The bank will provide services for both corporate and institutional clients, including financing and working capital solutions as per the foreign banking branch licence issued by the Saudi Central Bank […]

Saudi German Health runs hospitals and clinics in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Yemen

GCC companies lead early sukuk moves in 2024

Saudi Arabia’s largest healthcare provider has announced plans to issue a riyal-denominated sukuk as analysts predict that $170 billion of the sharia-compliant bonds will be issued this year. Middle East Healthcare Company, the parent of Saudi German Health, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that the offering size would be determined later, […]

UAE India rupees

UAE starts paying for Indian jewellery imports in rupees

The UAE has initiated payment for its gems and jewellery imports from India using Indian rupees, a senior Indian government official has said. India is already paying for gold imports from the UAE in rupees, Moneycontrol, an Indian website, reported. The rupee settlement of trade between India and UAE for selected commodities is being done […]

Qatar Investment Authority committed to invest £400m into the developer of London’s dockland financial district last year

QIA will support London’s Canary Wharf says CEO

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will continue to support London’s Canary Wharf Group (CWG) project as a long-term shareholder, CEO Mansoor Al Mahmoud has confirmed. The sector contains “a little bit of risk” because of the “leverage and cost of funding,” he told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos. However, the fund has […]

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. The Fed has set its benchmark Effective Rate of interest at 5.33% but the markets expect a cut

Treasury yields fall as traders bet on US rate cuts

US 10-year treasury yields have slid from October’s 15-year highs as markets bet the Federal Reserve will start cutting its benchmark interest rate in 2024. Declining 10-year treasury yields, against which many sovereign and corporate bonds worldwide are priced, have led to lower borrowing costs. “We’re starting to see some more new issuance in 2024, […]

The Saudi Stock Exchange in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Al Mojil and his son were banned from working in Tadawul-listed companies for 10 and seven years, respectively

Class action lawsuit against Saudi builder approved

A class action lawsuit against a Saudi construction company has been given the green light to proceed by authorities. The Capital Market Authority said the Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes (CRSD) has accepted the lawsuit filed by an investor against some members of the board and employees of Mohammad Al Mojil Group. The […]

Sultan Al Neyadi is one of the UAE's first astronauts. Middle East governments have stepped up investment in space

Middle East cash injection to propel space industry to $75bn

The value of the Middle East space sector is expected to hit $75 billion by 2032, and a new report predicts that spending will increase by 92 percent over the next decade. The region’s space economy has trebled in 10 years to reach an estimated $25 billion in 2023, according to the white paper published […]

Of GII's $4 billion assets under management, around $400 million is in the medical sector

Dubai’s GII invests $160m in Saudi medical group

Sharia-compliant asset management group Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) has invested $160 million (SAR 600 million) in Saudi Arabia’s Abeer Medical Group. Abeer is the largest affordable healthcare services provider in Saudi Arabia, operating 50 medical centres, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and optical centres across GCC countries and India. GII co-founder and co-CEO Mohammed Alhassan said the […]

Building workers on site in Riyadh. Last mile funding opportunities 'remain very interesting', said one industry expert

Private credit lenders expect surge in ‘last mile’ finance

Private credit firms are preparing for a surge in demand for “last mile” financing from construction companies across the Middle East. This form of financing plays a critical role in the delivery of projects that are on the brink of completion but have been hit by budget overruns or unforeseen costs. William Watson, a partner […]

A woman at a souq in Oman. The country's Central Bank has approved Bank Muscat's plans to invest in GCC-listed institutions

Bank Muscat to invest $390m in GCC-listed banks

Bank Muscat is to invest up to 150 million riyals ($389.97 million) in various GCC-listed banks as part of its growth strategy. The sharia-compliant lender said in a statement on the Muscat Stock Exchange on Monday that it was given an in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Oman to set up a wholly owned […]

Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Forty percent of the $11trn held by sovereign wealth funds is in the Gulf region Video length: 05:39

Sovereign wealth funds: the Gulf’s biggest power players

Did you know that the world’s first sovereign wealth fund was set up in the GCC? Kuwait Investment Authority was established in 1953, eight years before the country’s independence, to invest surplus oil revenues. Now every GCC country has a sovereign wealth fund responsible for financial returns and national economic development.  “Today there are over […]

QNB Group headquarters in Doha. The bank's board of directors proposed a dividend of QR0.65 per share for 2023

Qatar National Bank’s profit rises 8% to $4.14bn in 2023

Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, said 2023 net profit rose eight percent to QR15.5 billion ($4.14 billion), driven by loan growth and higher operating income. Operating income jumped 11 percent year on year to QR39.1 billion, the bank said in a statement. Total assets stood at QR1.23 trillion by the […]

A view of Angola's capital Luanda. The Dubai Investments mixed-use development will be built around 50 km from the city

Dubai Investments plans flagship project in Africa

UAE investment group Dubai Investments has revealed details of its first flagship mixed-use development in Africa. The company is creating Dubai Investments Park Angola, a 2,000 hectare residential, commercial and industrial hub in the West African country. The project, based 50 kilometres from the capital Luanda in Bengo Province, includes an 18-hole golf course and […]

Khalaf Al Habtoor's group says it has invested close to $1bn in Lebanon

Khalaf Al Habtoor escalates dispute with Lebanon

Emirati businessman Khalaf Al Habtoor has escalated his feud with the Lebanese authorities by launching an investment treaty dispute against the country. The legal notice of the dispute alleges that Beirut’s treatment of his conglomerate, Al Habtoor Group, breaches the investment treaty between the UAE and Lebanon. Under the 1999 agreement, Lebanon committed to protect […]

Salmon, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, says the deal will bolster access to banking services for millions of underserved Filipinos

ADQ-backed fintech buys rural bank in Philippines

Salmon, a consumer fintech company backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, will acquire a majority stake in a Philippine rural bank. The startup has received regulatory approval from the Philippine central bank to purchase 59.7 percent of Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa, which operates in Laguna province, south of Manila. The transaction will […]

The joint venture between Adnoc Drilling and Alpha Dhabi has invested in Louisiana-based Gordon Technologies

Abu Dhabi joint venture invests in US tech company

An AED5.5 billion ($1.5 billion) joint venture between Adnoc Drilling Company and Alpha Dhabi Holding has made its first investment, buying a $180 million stake in a US engineering company. Adnoc Drilling, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), and Alpha Dhabi holding, one of Abu Dhabi’s biggest investment companies, announced the partnership […]

Banking and Bahrain Steel executives at the loan signing ceremony. The $450m will be used to build the world’s largest stockyard shed with rooftop solar panels

Bahrain Steel lands $450m loan for green transition

Bahrain Steel, a supplier of high-grade iron ore pellets, has secured a $450 million sustainability-linked loan from a consortium of regional banks as part of its carbon footprint reduction drive. The loan will be used to build the world’s largest stockyard shed with rooftop solar panels, in addition to meeting working capital requirements, Dubai-headquartered lender […]

A rebound in Q4 is 'enough to dispel the idea that VC funding dried up', says one expert on the Saudi market

Banks and VCs pour cash into Saudi small businesses

Funding for small companies in Saudi Arabia from banks, financial institutions and venture capitalists rose sharply in 2023, bucking regional and global trends. Figures released in December by Sama, the kingdom’s central bank, show that the total value of loans to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) rose 17.8 percent year on year to SAR268.6 […]

Model Natalia Vodianova says the Russian diaspora in the Gulf forms a 'network' that works together easily

Angel investor Natalia Vodianova opts for GCC

Russian supermodel and angel investor Natalia Vodianova, nicknamed “Supernova”, is eyeing further investments in the GCC through her Paris-registered company, after backing the UAE café chain Angel Cakes this month. In an interview with AGBI, Vodianova said she and business partner Timon Afinsky, a London-based digital media professional with whom she runs the investment vehicle […]

A visitor takes photos on the 71st floor of the Gevora Hotel, the world's tallest, in Dubai

Gulf hotels under pressure to boost green credentials

Hotels in the Gulf region are facing pressure to make their buildings and operations more green or lose out on future investment.  Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the Energy and Environment Alliance (EEA), a hotel industry network, told AGBI that EU green banking regulations that take effect in January will affect global investors. If hotel […]