Issues

March 2010 was “the month of the emerging markets”. Both the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM) series and the conventional Dow Jones indexes saw composites from the Middle East and East Asia on the rise.After a humble 2010 debut, the Dow Jones Dubai Financial Market (DFM) Titans 10 Index was boosted by hearing that Dubai’s stateowned conglomerate Dubai World …

Al Hilal Bank is establishing its first operation outside the UAE . In March Kazakhstan’s Financial Markets Authority granted it an official licence to open the first Islamic bank in the country. The main headquarters are being established in the city of Almaty with a second branch in Astana, the capital. With a population of nearly 16 million, Kazakhstan possesses …

The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM), the Bahrain-based organisation seeking to set standards for Islamic securities, may issue new global guidelines to facilitate the sale of Shariahcompliant bonds.  “There is no one, crossborder, common benchmark for sukuk,” IIFM’s chief executive officer Ijlal Ahmed Alvi said in March. “When there is a problem or a restructuring possibility, there is no precedent.” …

There may be little pick-up for some Gulf banks in 2010 following a bleak fiscal year in 2009 in which Kuwait saw the only increase in net profits in the region, at 70 per cent, while Bahrain’s banking sector posted the biggest decline, 35.23 per cent. Shuaa Capital, the UAE ’s largest investment bank, said in its UAE Vision 2010 …

The launch and listing of the first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in the Gulf region took place in March thanks to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD ) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).  The new fund, NBAD OneShare Dow Jones UAE 25 ETF, will follow the performance of the “Dow Jones UAE 25 Total Return Index” and provide …

Corporate treasurers around the world are still feeling quite bullish about 2010. That was just one of many findings about the health of the global business environment revealed in a quarterly business confidence survey from EuroFinance.  Among the key findings reported were:  The treasurers’ agenda is now changing. Immediately after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, “counterparty risk” was corporate treasurers’ …

Dear Reader,  One thing showing up very clearly in the crystal ball of commerce – affecting transaction banking in particular – is that the face of global trade is changing.  As we report in this issue, more than 150 fund managers, investors and bankers attended an HSBC conference in Dubai in March to hear global and regional economists and analysts …

The future of cash management points towards integrated management dashboards, says Maki Vekinis – Cash Management Matters (CMM) Managing Partner, The advent of the sophisticated business performance monitoring tools, resulting from the adoption of sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms is slowly making its way into the corporate internet banking systems. The emerging trend, sometimes referred to as integrated cash management …

John Foster speaks to RAJ GUPTA, RESEARCHDIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITIES AND DERVATIVE MARKETS.  The global financial crisis has turned the previously cosy, stable and processorientated world of treasury management on its head. In the past, tried and tested practices, relationships and technologies were passed from generation to generation of CFOs and treasury managers, and the industry evolved …

Making the  right decesion when choosing a cash management platform is no easy task, expains Maki Vekinis – Cash Management Matters (CMM) Managing Partner www.cashmanagementmatters.com Is there a bullet-proof way to identify a cash management platform vendor? here is a banker’s perspective and some important practical pointers. The ever-increasing competition among banks of all sizes to enhance revenue streams without exercising …

Our exlusive ranking reveals the full impact of the global economic crisis upon the region’s biggest companies. although the value of many stock exchanges actually increased during the course of the calendar year, the lion’s share of Middle Eastern firms suffered a fall in market capitalisation over the last 12 months. With oil prices again buoyant, the situation now looks …

MANINDER BHANDARI is managing director & head of Middle east & africa for Treasury services at bny Mellon. Cash & Trade caught up with him to discuss the ways in which the economic crisis has altered Mena trading patterns and the region’s next step in treasury solutions. If money really does make the world go around, then effective treasury management …

Energy companies in the Middle east have been hit hard by the global economic downturn, but a revival is underway. This is putting pressure on treasury departments to improve their operational efficiency and enhance working capital, writes LANCE T. KAWAGUCHI of CITI. In the Middle East have had to cope with a significant fall in demand for their products. This …

As the global economy recovers, the role of export credit agencies in facilitating trade flows in the Middle East is more important than ever. by PIERS CONSTABLE, director of Deutsche Bank’s structured trade and export finance for the Middle East and Africa. The World bank’s global economic outlook for 2010 points to a trade resurgence. In recent months, quarterly growth …

Risk management and liquidity are required in order to meet the global trade rebound, writes ETIENNE BERNARD (left), head of Global Transaction services eurozone & Middle East, and NICOLETTA STELLA, Middle East strategy, Global Transaction services Middle East at RBS. While there are indications that the worst of the credit crisis may be behind us, it is generally thought that …

As a Mena treasury manager of one of the Middle east’s leading corporates, and its biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, EYAS QUIDEMAT is in a prime position to drive the company’s growth plans – and demand more from its banks. Eyas Quidemat is the MENA treasury manager for Middle East pharmaceutical giant Hikma. As a major manufacturer of drugs, hikma leads the way …