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Banking & Finance

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

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Americana selects banks for Saudi and UAE listings

The Middle East and North Africa franchisee of fast-food restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut has hired banks for a potential dual listing in Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Americana Group has selected Goldman Sachs, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and Saudi National Bank (SNB) for the deal, said the source, declining […]

Abu Dhabi bourse dips ahead of Eid break, Dubai flat

Abu Dhabi’s shares closed lower on Friday in thin trade ahead of Eid al-Fitr holidays, while the Dubai bourse finished flat, ending three sessions of gains. In Abu Dhabi the index eased 0.2 percent, with the country’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) losing 1.3 percent, snapping two sessions of gains. On Thursday, FAB […]

Lebanese central banker says ready to answer Swiss questions

Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh is ready to meet Swiss prosecutors in person to answer questions about their money-laundering investigation, he said in a television interview. Salameh is facing investigations in Lebanon and five European countries into the alleged embezzlement of some $330 million in public funds with the help of his brother, Raja, […]

Repsol’s profit doubles on high oil and gas prices

Spain’s Repsol posted a first-quarter profit upswing on Thursday, bolstered by higher oil and gas prices and recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Commodities prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, sending further shockwaves through markets already reeling from last year’s collision between tight supplies and high demand in economies reopening after coronavirus lockdowns. Adjusted […]

UAE freezes assets of Kinahan drug trafficking gang

The United Arab Emirates has frozen the assets of Ireland’s Kinahan drug trafficking gang, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The United States, which earlier this month offered a $5 million reward for help arresting the leaders of the gang, has likened it to some of the world’s most notorious crime networks. Daniel Kinahan, one […]

Guterres urges unconditional funds for Afghanistan aid

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan had “deteriorated alarmingly” and urged donors toprovide “unconditional and flexible funding” towards its $4.4 billion appeal for aid. Opening a high-level pledging conference, he said the Afghan economy had all but collapsed since the Taliban takeover in August and nine million Afghans […]

Sterling set for biggest drop in six years against dollar

Sterling rose against the dollar on Friday but was still set for its sharpest monthly drop since October 2016, while edging higher against the euro. The dollar dropped from its recent 20-year high while still on track for its best month since 2015, bolstered by a combination of expectations for US rate hikes and growth […]

Angry Credit Suisse shareholders reject 2020 discharge

Credit Suisse shareholders on Friday rejected by a wide margin the board’s proposal to provide the beleaguered Swiss bank’s management a discharge from liabilities for the 2020 financial year, as investor ire over a slew of costly missteps grows. The board’s proposal to provide managers a legal discharge for 2020 — a sign of backing, […]

Egypt seeks private sector participation in state-owned assets

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the government to set a program for the private sector’s participation in state-owned assets, with a target of $10 billion annually for four years, state TV quoted him as saying on Tuesday. The broadcaster did not mention any other details about the method of participation. The Egyptian president also […]

ADQ buys stakes worth $1.85bn in Egyptian firms

Abu Dhabi’s state holding company ADQ bought shares worth $1.85 billion in five publicly traded Egyptian companies in April, helping Egypt after the Ukraine crisis prompted foreign investors to flee.  Egypt has been on the hunt for foreign exchange since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted investors to pull billions of dollars out of its treasury […]

Standoff with Lebanon banks could derail IMF deal: minister

Lebanon’s efforts to secure $3 billion in International Monetary Fund (IMF) support to help it tackle its financial crisis could be derailed by divisions over how to deal with massive financial sector losses, according to economy minister Amin Salam. The Association of the Banks of Lebanon (ABL) has rejected the latest draft of the government’s […]

US energy secretary says oil, gas output will continue to increase

The US Energy Secretary said on Monday US oil and gas production is rising and will continue to rise to make up for the 1 to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day that has been pulled off the market in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Jennifer Granholm told CNBC the boost in US oil […]

Italy’s Enel in talks to sell Brazilian power distributor for $2bn

Italy’s Enel SpA is in talks to sell its Brazilian power distributor company Celg-D in a deal that may reach $2 billion, four sources with knowledge of the matter said. Celg-D distributes power in the Brazilian centre-west state of Goias and serves 3.27 million customers. The sources said companies interested in acquiring Celg-D include Brazilian rivals […]

Commodity stocks drag FTSE 100 lower

Commodity stocks and banks led a near 2 percent drop in London’s FTSE 100 on Monday as fears of a global economic slowdown sapped sentiment at the start of a week loaded with corporate earnings. After falling as much as 2.4 percent, the blue-chip index pared some losses to close down 1.9 percent at its […]

Turtle Beach explores options to defend against hedge fund

Turtle Beach Corp is looking at strategic alternatives including a possible sale, the company said, as it seeks to defend itself against a hedge fund which is seeking to replace all of the gaming equipment company’s six board members. Investment advisory firm Donerail Group and Turtle Beach have both made regulatory filings urging the company’s […]

India’s HDFC to sell 10% stake in HDFC Capital to ADIA

India’s top housing finance firm HDFC Ltd said on Wednesday it plans to sell a 10% stake in unit HDFC Capital to an arm of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for INR 1.84 billion ($24.09 million). The deal comes two weeks after HDFC and HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private-sector lender, floated merger plans to […]

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World Bank to push ahead with some Afghan projects

The World Bank has resumed work on three projects in Afghanistan focused on health, agriculture and livelihoods, but will maintain a hold on some $150 million for education projects, two sources familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The multilateral development bank had put all four projects, valued at around $600 million, on hold in late […]

Abu Dhabi bank FAB withdraws offer for Egypt’s EFG Hermes

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has withdrawn its offer for a controlling stake in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes, citing global market uncertainty. FAB’s non-binding offer in February to buy at least 51 percent of EFG Hermes, valuing Egypt’s biggest investment bank at nearly $1.2 billion, could have secured access to EFG’s strong franchise in […]

Egypt current account deficit narrows to $3.8bn

Egypt’s current account deficit narrowed to $3.8 billion in the October-December quarter from $4.85 billion in the same period a year earlier, boosted by a jump in tourism, the central bank said in balance of payments figures released on Thursday. The figures also showed a sharp outflow of portfolio investment, which shrank to a deficit […]

Egypt’s foreign reserves drop by $4bn on Ukraine war shock

The March reserves figure should have included a $5 billion deposit that Saudi Arabia said it placed with Egypt’s central bank just before the end of March, indicating that the scope of the strain on reserves had been even greater. The pressure on the currency prompted the central bank to devalue the pound by 14 […]