Banking & Finance Middle East backers help Chinese tech giant Sequoia raise $9bn Sequoia Capital China has raised a total of nearly $9 billion for four new funds amid investor hopes that the authorities are easing a regulatory crackdown on the tech sector, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The latest fundraising by Sequoia China, which according to the person originally targeted at least $8 […] July 7, 2022
Banking & Finance Global corporate debt to drop amid higher funding costs Global corporate net debt has fallen by 1.9 percent to $8.15 trillion in the past year as higher borrowing costs reduce appetite for new financing and strong cash flows from years of accommodative monetary conditions help companies repay existing debt, a study of 900 top firms released on Wednesday showed. Indebtedness is expected to decline […] July 6, 2022
Banking & Finance Canadian crypto lender Voyager files for bankruptcy Voyager Digital has filed for bankruptcy, the crypto lender said in a statement on Wednesday, a week after suspending withdrawals, trading and deposits to its platform as it sought additional time to explore strategic alternatives. In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Tuesday, Toronto-listed Voyager estimated that it had more than 100,000 creditors and somewhere […] July 6, 2022
Banking & Finance New Turkish central bank rules causing issues for exporters Turkey’s exporters are experiencing serious problems in accessing financing due to new regulations by the central bank and the BDDK banking watchdog, the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) said on Tuesday. Turkey’s economy authorities have taken restrictive steps in the face of economic turmoil that has seen inflation reach its highest level in 24 years […] July 6, 2022
Banking & Finance Zand unveils big names as UAE’s digital banking rivalry hots up Zand, the digital bank headed by Emaar boss Mohamed Alabbar, has named a number of business big hitters as part of its board of directors ahead of its launch. Adnan Abdulfattah Kazim Abdulfattah, Emirates chief commercial officer, and Yusuff Ali MA, chairman of retail giant Lulu Group, are part of the new venture as competition […] July 5, 2022
Banking & Finance Qatar First Bank acquires office tower in the US Qatar First Bank has acquired a building in Richmond, Virginia, the lender’s eleventh real estate investment deal in the United States. The Gateway Plaza building is described as a Class AA trophy asset with an area of 330,000 square feet, the bank said in a press statement. Build in 2015, the building is a multi-tenant […] July 4, 2022
Banking & Finance Careem buys Dubai-based money transfer startup Uber-owned app ride-hailing firm Careem has acquired the assets of Dubai-based money transfer platform Denarii. Founded in 2019 by Jon Santillan and Walfrido Perez, Denarii will enable fintechs like Careem Pay to process quick and affordable international money transfers. Careem will also use the new addition to its Super App to allow customers and Captains […] July 4, 2022
Banking & Finance Digital bank YAP raises $41m as it eyes Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates-based digital bank YAP said on Monday it had raised $41 million and plans to expand into Saudi Arabia through a partnership with a traditional bank in the kingdom. The investors in the Series A round, which YAP said it intends to close by the end of the year, include Saudi Arabia’s Aljazira […] July 4, 2022
Banking & Finance One in five IMF staff say they were ‘unduly influenced’ Nearly 20 percent of International Monetary Fund staff say their work has been “unduly influenced” by supervisors, according to an internal survey released on Thursday as part of a review of data integrity standards that generally found “robust mechanisms” for institutional governance. The review was launched last year by the IMF’s Executive Board following allegations […] July 1, 2022
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia ‘in early talks to take stake in Aston Martin’ Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is in early talks with British luxury carmaker Aston Martin about taking a stake in the business that could be worth 200 million pounds ($243.5 million), the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Shares in Aston Martin, which had fallen as much as 20 percent to a record low on Thursday, […] July 1, 2022
Banking & Finance UK bank losses from fraud scams surge 40% British bank customers were tricked out of 583 million pounds ($712 million) stolen through sophisticated fraud in 2021, up nearly 40 percent on the prior year, according to data published by trade body UK Finance. Lenders have been battling increasingly complex fraud schemes against their customers, as criminals target the growing numbers of people banking […] June 30, 2022
Opinion Banking & Finance MENA’s crypto mining industry needs to catch up The challenges for digital asset mining in the region include the power costs needed in a hot climate June 30, 2022
Banking & Finance Crypto is ‘more like a Rolex than currency’ Crypto assets will not become currencies and global regulators should be concerned about the trillions of dollars lost in the cryptocurrency market, a senior investment executive at one of the UAE’s top financial institutions said yesterday. A major sell-off in cryptocurrencies last month wiped over $200 billion of investor wealth from the market in a […] June 30, 2022
Banking & Finance ‘Embrace digital, don’t just change the cushions’ says official Dubai’s biggest companies must embrace digital transformation as a way to advance the financial sector, instead of joining the “innovation theatre”, according to a government official. Hamad Buamim, president and chief executive of Dubai Chamber of Commerce, said large organisations, especially banks, need to steer clear of superficial efforts if they are truly to make […] June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Volt, Australia’s first online-only bank, shuts down Volt Bank Ltd, the first exclusively online bank to gain an Australian banking licence, said on Tuesday it would shut down, returning deposits and selling its mortgage book after failing to raise sufficient funds to support the business. Its collapse is a further blow to a business model that the Australian government and regulators promoted […] June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Egyptian microfinance firm closes $150m bond issuance Egyptian microfinance lending and payments company MNT-Halan said on Monday it had closed a securitised bond issuance of approximately $150 million, as part of a $600 million program with Commercial International Bank (CIB). “The proceeds will fuel the company’s accelerated growth across multiple lending business lines,” the company said. “We expect our loan book to […] June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance US mass shooting insurance rates jump as incidents rise The cost of buying insurance protection against mass shootings has spiked more than 10 percent in the United States this year following a string of deadly events, insurers said. The United States witnessed 293 mass shootings so far this year, according to a report by the Gun Violence Archive that defines them as any event […] June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Saudi foreign direct investment rises 9.5% in first quarter Saudi Arabia recorded 9.5 percent increase year on year in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows during the first three months of 2022, the investment ministry said on Twitter on Tuesday. The FDI inflows were at 7.4 billion riyals ($1.97 billion) in the first quarter of 2022, the ministry added. ($1 = 3.7530 riyals) June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Binance CEO warns Gulf banks they must adapt Banks that fail to catch up with blockchain and decentralised finance technologies will have a “hard time in the future”, the chief executive of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has warned. Changpeng Zhao, CEO and co-founder of Binance, told a conference in Dubai today that embracing these tech advances allowed entrepreneurs to raise tens of […] June 29, 2022
Banking & Finance Egypt can no longer depend on foreign money, says minister Egypt’s finance minister said on Monday the government could no longer depend on foreign purchases of treasuries to finance its budget, but must work to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) instead. “The lesson we have learned (is that) you cannot depend on this type of investment. It is coming just to get high yields, and […] June 28, 2022
Banking & Finance Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund grows 20.4% Bahrain Future Generations Reserve Fund’s (FGF) assets increased by 20.4 percent year on year to $626.9 million by December 2021, the finance ministry said on Monday. Bahrain lacks the ample oil and financial resources of its neighbours, and its state finances are among the weakest in the gulf region. June 28, 2022
Banking & Finance Qatar pledges $100m to recover distressed assets The Qatar Financial Center (QFC) said on Monday that it has pledged $100 million to fund a new platform aimed at recovering distressed assets. Atlas Merchant Capital, the private equity firm co-founded by former Barclays Plc chief Bob Diamond, will advise the new platform on strategy and the new vehicle will seek to coordinate with […] June 28, 2022
