1H 2014 Highlights Net Profits were AED 2.8Billion, up 7.9% y-o-y Revenues wereAED 5.1 Billion, up 4.4% y-o-y Total Assets grew to AED 348.5Billion, up 6.7% y-o-y Loans were AED 181.7Billion, up 4.8% y-o-y Customer Deposits increased to AED 237.4 Billion, up 8.2% y-o-y Trade contingencies were AED 95.1 Billion, up 21.8% y-o-y Strong capital position with CAR at 16.2% …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Barclays continues to grow its Trade and Working Capital team with the appointment of Jeroen Reyes Stolker as Head of Trade & Working Capital for the Middle Eastregion. Reporting to Baihas Baghdadi, Managing Director, Head of Trade & Working Capital International at Barclays, Jeroen will be responsible for leading the trade and working capital business for …

NEW YORK – Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a leader in global payments, has announced that a new payments capability is available on CashPro®Online, the company’s worldwide banking portal. Corporate and government clients of all sizes utilizing CashPro can now transact with low-value cross-currency payments, and realize reduced costs and improved efficiency through the CashPro Payments module. The new capability, launched …

Dear Reader, If competition is healthy, as most generally agree, then the UAE is at a peak of fitness! Currently, the Emirates are being seen as a “battleground” where international and domestic banks are displaying their respective wares in a bid to win new trading customers, all to the benefit of local corporates. As we explain in this issue, much …

Abu Dhabi’s strategic advantages as a conduit and enabler of trade and commerce across a rising “super region” stretching from West Africa to East Asia were presented by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s (NBAD) group chief executive officer Alex Thursby at the recent fifth Abu Dhabi Investment Forum (ADIF) held in London. The event is organised by Institutional Investor …

The UAE is becoming a ‘battleground’ where international and domestic banks are touting their respective services in a bid to win new trading customers. MELANIE LOVATT looks at how this competition is benefitting corporates   Much bank activity has centred on providing services to the Gulf region’s government- controlled oil companies. Securing this business remains important, but private sector growth and diversification …

Expansion, forward thinking and treasury upgrades have contributed to the success of one of Dubai’s leading commercial groups. But it would like to see an improvement in the quality of services being offered by banks. PAUL MELLY reports   From traditional family trading house to modern company in just a few decades. This is a path that many of the …

Omani banks are gearing up on the IT front following a Royal Decree encouraging the market to adopt more technology. This was one of the facts that emerged from a BNY Mellon Roundtable in Muscat. The questions were put by Cash&Trade Cash&Trade: What challenges do Omani institutions (banks and their corporate clients) face with regard to the new regulatory environment …

The GCC Tajara Monitor series for the financial year 2013 is shortly being released beginning with the KSA analysis. The focus is to provide transparency on developments, trends and the financial and capital dimensions of the trade-finance market-place. CAROLINE MAGINN reviews the findings The complex trade finance business proposition delivered by banks continues to evolve in an attempt to support …

More than 38 per cent of those in the Middle East who responded to an economic crime survey said they expected their organisations to be victims within the next two years. PAUL WRIGHT, of AccessData Professional Services and Investigations, looks at how companies can cope in the ‘digital world’ The Middle East is fast becoming a prime target of cyber …

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector is at the forefront of a massive drive to support SMEs. MUSHTAK PARKER reveals who will benefit Due to celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2015, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector funding arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, is a …

Several financial institutions and corporates in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa – although not tied to the 2014 Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) deadlines – have joined SEPA schemes, and are already ‘grabbing the operational benefits of optimised euro payments’, according to OLIVIER DENIS, product manager for SEPA compliance at EastNets T he single euro payments area (SEPA) …

  TheInternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has today released theGlobal Survey 2014: Rethinking Trade and Finance, its largest and most comprehensive Global Surveyto date –including data from 298 banks across 127 countries. The Survey concludes that the growth rate of international trade has dropped drastically when compared to the years prior to the global financial crisis Survey highlights include:   …

  H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAEMinistry of Economy, announces Global Trade Development Week 2014, the largest international trade event for business and government leaders Dubai, June 21 2014 – Global Trade Development Week EMEA will be an unprecedented gathering of influential business and government leaders, entrepreneurs and academics from over 70 countries. The event, which is the world’s …

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) earned AED 1.406 billion for the quarter ended 31March 2014, up 31% sequentially from AED 1.077 billion in 4Q 2013 and relatively flat year-over-year, reflecting improving underlying fee income, FX income and investment gain trends.This represents diluted EPS of AED 0.27for 1Q 2014, which was flat with 1Q 2013. The annualised return on average …