2011

Small businesses seem to be reluctant to approach the banks when it comes to seeking finance, according to the Business Banking study carried out by Charterhouse research. Over the past 12 months, only a third of such businesses have sought some form of finance from banks. Mark Dennis, director at Charterhouse research, said, “In a market where businesses seem to …

Demand for trade financing is expected to rise as the Gulf economies develop their non-oil exports. In the UAE, for example, a November 2010 survey of HSBC customers found that around half of small businesses said they expected their need for trade finance to increase as they relied more heavily on banks to finance their export and import activity and …

The national Bank of abu dhabi (nBad) has announced the opening of a new office in the Us capital, Washington, as part of its expansion strategy for north america. The lender currently operates in 13 countries, including those spanning the Uae, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, egypt, sudan, Libya, France, switzerland, the UK, the Usa and hong Kong.

The Islamic finance industry is now worth close to $1trn and spans the globe. From Kuwait to Kuala Lumpur, the industry has attracted significant investor interest due to Islamic banks’ tendency to avoid excessive leverage and risk-taking Islamic finance, which requires financial products from mortgages to savings accounts to be structured to comply with sharia law under the Koran, is …

Lance T. Kawaguchi has been appointed as standard Chartered Bank’s Middle East and North Africa, strategic Client Coverage Group (SCCG) industry head for the oil and gas sector (within transaction banking). he will be responsible for working closely with each country team to drive transaction banking pipeline and revenue origination within the oil and gas sector. also, he will be …

Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-sure) and the national Bank of abu dhabi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to arrange trade and project financing loans to south Korean companies that have secured export insurance coverage from K-sure. K-sure was founded by the Korean government in 1992 to operate export and import insurance programmes for the purpose of facilitating global trade. …

Standard Chartered has launched a mobile application designed for its corporate clients – cash and trade authorisation for android smartphone users. This announcement follows the October 2010 launch of its iPhone application that offers authorisation capability for cash and trade to its corporate clients. The bank says the application covers authorisation for both cash and trade functions. Mobile authorisation via …

The Dubai Gold & Commodities exchange (DGCX) achieved a robust start to 2011, with a record volume of 244,385 contracts, valued at $11.7bn in the first month of the year. That was the highest ever monthly volume activity for the exchange since inception in 2005. It was driven by strong member participation in currency, gold and crude oil futures, recording …

Abu Dhabi’s foreign trade was worth aed 109.1bn in 2010, a decrease of 2.5 per cent compared to 2009, according to the Emirate’s department of Finance, General directorate of Customs, in providing annual statistics on foreign goods arriving via land, sea and air. The statistics also showed a decline in imports, recording aed 86.54bn, a drop of 7.8 per cent …

FRSGlobal, a part of Wolters Kluwer Financial services, is increasing its footprint in the Middle East by introducing reporting capabilities for banks operating in Bahrain into its global regulatory solution. FRSGlobal’s regulatory reporting solution automates report compilation and submission to the national regulator – helping save Bahrain fi rms’ valuable time and resources, and helping ensure compliance with latest requirements …

Financial services companies need to look far beyond their domestic markets if they are to achieve their ambitious growth aspirations, according to the 14th annual PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Chief executive Offi cer (CeO) survey. The research shows CeOs of fi nancial services companies believe emerging markets are more important than developed markets to their organisation’s future. China tops the list …

Treasurers’ main focus remains liquidity, according to the 12th annual global cash management survey carried out by JP Morgan asset Management and the association of Corporate Treasurers. It reveals that while extreme risk aversion is beginning to recede, treasurers remain cautious in the wake of the financial crisis. In particular, the survey shows a continued focus on liquidity, and an …

Dear Reader, Co-operation and collaboration are the watchwords highlighted in two of our principle articles in this issue as businesses and banks act to increase profitability and sidestep market turmoil. First, as our main article points out, corporate treasurers based in the Middle East’s major commercial and trading centres are collaborating more closely with trade finance managers to exploit opportunities …

Speed and getting ahead of the game are vital to ward off competition in the fast-moving cash management field in Saudi Arabia. PAUL MELLY reports One of the largest economies in the Middle East, the world’s top oil producer and an emergent industrial power, Saudi Arabia is an increasingly sophisticated financial market. As competition intensifies with a steady growth in …

The second and final part of the WILL SPINNEY feature on ratio analsis The first part of this feature covered such key ratios as return on capital employed, operating profit margin and return on equity, as well as a variety of liquidity and solvency performance measures. This time around, we’re looking at the gearing/ leverage ratio and interest cover, as …

Th e Middle East has experienced a rapid transformation over the last few years, and corporates are now looking for a range of innovative transaction banking products and services from their banks as well as support to grow their businesses – both locally and internationally. Steve Donovan, Middle East and Pakistan head of global transaction services, Citi, together with his …