Arab Financial Services (AFS), a leading provider of electronic payments and consumer finance outsourcing services in the Middle East, has recently announced the renewal of its VisionPLUS licence agreement with First Data, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment solutions.

Naveed Sultan has been appointed global head of treasury and trade solutions at Citi, reporting to global transaction services (GTS) CEO Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi. He will manage Citi’s cash management and trade services business with reported revenues of $7.2bn in 2010.

The historic credit downgrading of the United States, the world’s largest economy, will have no impact on UAE banks as they have no investment in US securities, according to Hammam Al Shamma, an adviser at the Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajr Securities, one of the UAE’s largest stocks and investment services firms.

A seminar to discuss ways of combating viruses that target financial institutions was held recently in Dubai, having been organised by the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), represented by the Computer Emergency Response Team (AECERT). TRA is making efforts to provide a secure cyber space for users in the UAE, and protect them from potential attacks. The AECERT team plays …

Dominic Broom has been appointed head of sales and relationship management for BNY Mellon Treasury Services, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He reports to Alan Verschoyle-King, head of global sales and client management for BNY Mellon Treasury Services. Broom joined BNY Mellon Treasury Services as head of market development EMEA in 2006. He has many years of experience in the …

Continued commitment to its customers, together with greater investment and product offering, have led to BBK in Bahrain winning two prestigious awards this year. In this interview, Cash & Trade talks to Rashad Akbari, Assistant General Manager of the Transactional Banking Division  What does BBK offer the Bahraini market in terms of cash management services? We provide the valuable combination …

SMEs are having a hard time of it because of the financial crisis and credit squeeze. LIZ SALECKA looks at their problems in accessing short-term bank finance Across the Gulf States, the financial crisis and resulting credit squeeze have had major implications for mid-market companies and small-to-medium sized (SME) family-owned businesses, which have since found it much harder to access …

MUSHTAK PARKER reports on 
a ‘man with a mission’, whose aim is to promote arbitration Sundra Rajoo is a man with a mission. As director of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) he has been mandated by Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, to promote arbitration in Islamic finance both in the region and beyond. Consistent with the …

Optimum liquidity and working-capital management is crucial to the long and short-term success of any commercial enterprise. However, it is dependent on businesses being prepared for all eventualities. MICHAEL BURKIE discusses why corporates must plan for even the most unlikely market disruption scenarios, as well as how local and regional banks can help their corporate clients to be prepared Funding …

Although this has been a difficult year for Bahrain, its banking industry has gone to great lengths to maintain reliable and competitive service. As PAUL MELLY reports, the country has commerce weaved into its culture. Lacking the oil and gas wealth of its neighbours, save in modest quantities, Bahrain has had to build its modern prosperity through industry and, above …

Tajara Monitor is in the process of broadening its coverage to include the other GCC countries in addition to the KSA, which CMM has published now for two years. In this edition, we look at some of the UAE Tajara findings in relation to trade finance. The UAE is the second biggest trading nation within the GCC. The 2010 report …

In the wake of the financial crisis, companies in the Middle East are starting to look at ways to streamline their business processes. Treasurers have various tools at their disposal for building efficient liquidity management processes. However, there are challenges that need to be overcome to achieve maximum visibility and mobility of funds. Treasurers need to select cash management providers …

Dear Reader, It’s always a pleasure for a magazine to say that it has an exclusive. So it’s a double pleasure for us to announce that in this issue we have two! The first is an interview with Dr Abdul Rahman El Tayeb Ali Taha, head of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC). As …

  New financial services upgrades are aimed at turning Doha into a major business centre. PAUL MELLY reports on theconsiderable progress being made Ambition is never lacking in Qatar. This is a country that has sought to carve out its own specialist niche in the Gulf financial market, undeterred by the competitive challenge presented by more established hubs such as …

Middle Eastern corporates’ growing demand for structured financing, coupled with pressure on local banks to compete more effectively with their global counterparts, is spearheading the adoption of modern-day, automated trade finance solutions across the region. LIZ SALECKA reports   A number of local banks are responding to their corporate customers’ needs by investing in new platforms that provideonline access to …

Corporates and banks in the Middle East face a variety of challenges when it comes to both cash management and trade fi nance. Here, Asif Raza, Vivek Anand, Farrukh Siddiqui and Ali Moosa explain to LIZ SALECKA how J.P. Morgan is helping its corporate and fi nancial institution clients to overcome these challenges and detail some of the bank’s latest …