News Round

Saudi banks appear to be performing better in the second half of this year as they resume lending to the government and their credit to the private sector edges up, a local investment firm said recently. The combined net profits of the 12 commercial banks in the world’s oil superpower stood at around SR 3.1bn in July, their highest monthly …

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral bank owned by the 10 member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, in August reported an above-budget net income of $47m for the first six months of 2010, a 95 per cent rise over the same period the previous year. Assets at the end of June had climbed to …

The UAE and Saudi Arabia received 80 per cent of the total $278bn worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) that flowed into the GCC over the past two decades, according to the latest report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD ). The UAE was the second largest recipient with $73.4bn, or 26 per cent of the …

Standard Chartered Bank has launched a new cash management service for corporate and institutional clients in the UAE . Client Account Services (CAS ) is an innovative, web-based solution designed for organisations to manage customer funds. This is a first-of-its-kind solution, says Standard Chartered Bank, and it enables clients to open downstream customer bank accounts online. CAS can be used …

The Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD and Japan’s SBI Holdings Inc (SBI) are establishing a new fund management company to invest in Africa, starting with capital of up to $100m. The new fund will focus on Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. It will invest in several sectors, including banking, mining, consumer products and manufacturing, through listed …

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 …

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 …

World trade has slowed by 3.5 per cent over the last quarter, according to the third edition of the Global Trade Flow Index by Capgemini Consulting. The report tracks trade by quarter based on the latest available official data from national agencies within the top 23 countries in the global trade arena. The index figures revealed growth of five per …

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has now opened in Iraq to help finance shortterm and medium-term sales of US exports to Iraqi buyers in both the public and private sectors. “Iraq’s economy is growing, offering specific opportunities for US exporters in a variety of industries, and Ex-Im Bank can help by reducing the repayment risk, especially …