Issue 04 July / August 2010

EzRemit (EzR), a leading provider of money transfer services using state-of-theart, web-based technology, has signed a strategic partnership with United Bank of Egypt (UBE). EzRemit is part of BFC Group Holdings, which also owns Bahrain Financing Company (BFC), the Kingdom of Bahrain’s oldest leading money transfer and foreign exchange group. Launched in 2003, with a mission to provide fast, affordable …

MUSHTAK PARKER looks at some of the constraints on the sector Considering that intra-Islamic trade between the 57 member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) states totalled a staggering $556.328bn in 2008, albeit 16.55 per cent of their total trade, one would have assumed that the uptake of Islamic trade and commodity finance would be equally robust. This …

In an exclusive interview, SAMIR SAHU, head of transaction banking services at Emirates NBD, talks to Cash & Trade What are the bank’s transaction strategy and its market? The bank’s transaction strategy has been to service, at an attractive price point, corporate and SME businesses through technology solutions that facilitate clients who give us their whole turnovers. This business was …

Cash forecasting is essentially the process of collecting information on balances and future cashflows from business units and being able to consolidate them instantly. Why is it so difficult and is there a simple, pragmatic approach to make it easier? SANNA OUTA, chief operating officer at Exidio, looks at common mistakes and how to avoid them . I graduated from …

As part of its aim to create transparency in the trade finance marketplace, CMM publishes this report, prepared by CAROLINE MAGINN, Cash Management Matters, CMM trade partner. This research will be updated quarterly throughout the year and anticipates the full-year report for 2010, which will be released after annual reports are published by the banks in Saudi Arabia. In the …

This article, by DILRUKSHAN ABEYSINGHE, senior sales manager, payments and cash management HSBC Middle East, United Arab Emirates, provides an overview of current approaches and issues relating to cash management, specifically the management of working capital. Among the points it makes are the following: • Using supplier credit as a source of capital may seem cost-efficient but carries potential risks …

If a company has mismatched intercompany transactions, how can it trust its financial statements? This article, by KEITH HARRIS, explores some discussion points for the treasurer, finance director and, ultimately, the chief financial officer Consider a company whose “goods” are physical products or services that are bought and sold. One party is the producer and the other – the counterparty …

Philippe Arbadji, BNY Mellon’s vice president for treasury services, Levant region, and Dominic Broom , managing director, treasury services EMEA, recently hosted a roundtable featuring a number of senior trade and transaction banking professionals from across Lebanon and Jordan. In light of the views expressed, they discuss the future of the sector. While many banks in the West are seemingly …

Backed by structural advantages and robust fundamentals, the Middle East and Africa region is expected to record sustained GDP growth rates over the medium to longer term, Credit Suisse analysts said in July. Addressing participants at a Credit Suisse Research Roundtable, Kamran Butt, head of Middle East Equities Research at Credit Suisse, Private Banking, said, “In our view, stable oil …

There has been a significant decline in the number of corporate treasurers all over the world who think that the financial crisis is over, according to the EuroFinance Quarterly Global Business Confidence Survey, which also discovered a sharp increase in uncertainty about what lies ahead. The treasurers’ biggest challenge now is the difficulty in forecasting their cashflows. This has even …

In recognition of its continued leadership of regional capital markets transactions, Euromoney Magazine recently named Citi the “Best Equity House in the Middle East”. The regional award was part of Euromoney’s 2010 Awards for Excellence, considered to be among the most respected global awards for banking excellence. During 2009, a difficult year for local and regional capital markets, Citi led …

Capital Bank of Jordan has chosen EastNets, a provider of global compliance and payment solutions and services, to provide watchlist filtering and anti-money laundering control solutions. Haytham Kamhiyah, general manager, Capital Bank, said, “We decided to develop our current systems by adopting a new solution that is able to keep pace with developments taking place in the area of compliance, …

Talaris, an expert in cash handling technology, has released CashInsight Bridge, the latest software development in its portfolio of teller automation solutions, and CashInsight Assure, the new multi-vendor benchmark in teller connectivity software. CashInsight Bridge provides an advanced remote device management solution for improved performance and business intelligence. It can also help maximise asset value through central control and deployment …

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has announced that its total volume for 2010 surpassed the one million contracts mark on July 13, 2010, the earliest it had exceeded this milestone in any year since inception. Eric Hasham, chief executive officer of DGCX, said, “Topping the one million contracts mark in just over six months is further evidence of …

More than 100 corporate treasurers and senior finance professionals gathered in Dubai recently for the Universwiftnet conference, hosted jointly by HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd and SWIFT. Entitled The Future of Payment Systems, the discussions on the day were structured around three main themes: Think, Implement & Deploy. Attendees participated in activities that included panel discussions, presentations and case studies …

Small and medium-sized companies across the globe plan to increase capital expenditure (41 per cent), expand their workforces (26 per cent) and hold positive views about local economic growth (84 per cent), according to the HSBC Small Business Confidence Monitor. Shaun Wallis, global head of business management, HSBC Commercial Banking, said: “Our research indicates confidence levels across the globe and …