A ‘gradual weakening in economic conditions’ may adversely affect Gulf banks, according to rating agency Standard & Poor. After posting positive results in the past year, Islamic banks in the UAE and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region are likely to see profits slowing down for what remains of this year as the decline in oil revenues …

One of the greatest duelling pairs in the history of crime fiction were the cerebral detective Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty. And, in spirit as it were, they might be living on in the digital age as Good and Bad clash for supremacy in the field of cybercrime in the financial services sector. What guards and tripwires can …

The financial challenges that the ‘great recession’ imposed on many organisations pushed treasury teams to the front and centre of corporate enterprise risk management (ERM) initiatives. BOB STARK of Kyriba looks at their aftermath tasks. While the biggest mandate for treasury post-2008 has been to deliver strategic value for the organisation as a whole, the need to establish controls and …

DONYA ROSE – chief operating officer UK and Ireland, global transaction banking, Deutsche Bank, explores the concept of Big Data, and how it will be put to use in coming years ” Big Data” – we have all heard the term, but the definition is somewhat nebulous. In truth, this is a decades-old term that has undergone a shift in …

Cash management and transaction banking will go under the microscope at this year’s Sibos and, says PAUL MELLY, this may leave some MENA banks questioning their operations Few industries have been so impacted by the advent of online technology as cash management and transaction banking – and the pace of change shows little sign of slacking off. This year’s Sibos …

How things are changing in the capitals of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait… MUSHTAK PARKER explains why The tiresome mantra was: “Oh we do not need to borrow money from the markets, because we are flush with liquidity. We pay everything in cash.”hese are extraordinary times in the corridors of power in Riyadh and Kuwait City. Gone is the exuberance, and …

The 22nd annual gathering of Islamic finance pioneers returns this December as a fresh and innovative platform Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, 25 August 2015: The annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) – the compass of the Islamic financial services industry for 22 years – will yet again galvanise the global Islamic banking and finance industry. WIBC 2015 will be the …

The magic of online marketplaces BECO Capital expects online marketplaces to lead digital growth in MENA Digital retail sales to reach US$100 billion in 2025 (Dubai- 24 August 2015) – BECO Capital, a regional venture capital firm focused on technology investments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, today said that large homegrown online marketplaces will lead the digital growth …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates. August 23, 2015( ME NewsWire) – Business confidence in the Middle East continued to fall in the second quarter of 2015, but not as quickly as it had in the first three months of the year, according to the to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and …

24 August 2015, Kuwait – Standard Chartered Bank has successfully completed the first Bank Payment Obligation (BPO) transaction in the automotive industry for Mohammed Naser Al-Sayer and Sons Est. Co., W.L.L. (“Al-Sayer”), one of the largest automotive dealers in the Middle East. The transaction facilitated a shipment of vehicles to Kuwait. Al-Sayer had previously relied on traditional Letters of Credit …

26th July 2015 Gulf International Bank B.S.C. (GIB) reported consolidated net income after tax of $47.3 million for the six months ended 30th June 2015, compared to $50.2 million in the prior year period. Prior year income included an exceptional, one off recovery of a previously written off loan. Excluding this exceptional income item, net income was marginally up on …

London / Frankfurt am Main Deutsche Bank’s Global Transaction Banking (GTB) division has launched an integrated solution for the processing of hybrid funds. The new offering combines Deutsche Bank’s loan administration and fund administration platforms to provide a seamless service for these increasingly popular fund structure characterized by a varied portfolio of stocks and bonds. The solution is scalable allowing …

Dear Reader, The Phoenicians well over a millennium ago were known far and wide as an enterprising, seafaring civilisation never beset by boundaries. And the same applies today with their descendants in Lebanon, as much a global trading hub as it has always been. In this issue, we report on a special BNY Mellon-hosted roundtable at which Cash & Trade …