News Round

eastNets, a provider of compliance and payments solutions, has again been awarded the swiftready services label after passing the renewal criteria for 2010. The certification validates eastNets’ capability to perform implementation, integration and upgrade services in 2010 for SWIFT products and solutions that include alliance access, alliance entry, alliance starter set, alliance rMa, alliance Gateway, alliance Webstation, CCI screenflow over …

dubai Gold & Commodities exchange (dGCX) recorded a 133 per cent rise in volume in the first quarter of 2010, with 495,059 futures contracts traded, valued at $29.6m. Volume in the January-March period rose on the back of strong demand for currencies, gold and WTI crude oil futures, which recorded volumes of 361,760, 112,077 and 13,457 contracts respectively. Volumes in …

In March the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the highest rated in the Middle East, hosted a first-of-its-kind meeting with a high level Turkish business delegation. Shaikha Al Bahar, the bank’s deputy CEO, said that the initiative and decision for such a gathering was taken by both H.H. the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and H.E. …

HS BC hosted more than 150 fund managers, investors and bankers at a conference in Dubai in March. The audience came from all over the world to hear HS BC’s top team of global and regional economists and analysts discuss and debate the future with traders and bankers.  The message that emerging markets’ growth will outpace mature markets came across …

The UK’s Baring Asset Management is launching a new fund targeting the Middle East and North Africa now that previously strict rules governing foreign investment and ownership in many of those markets are being relaxed. Barings, which has €31.8bn under management and almost half of this figure invested in emerging markets, opened its MENA fund to new investors in March. …

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 …

Bahrain-based Cash Management Matters (CMM), a leading provider of cash management solutions in the Middle east, has launched the nostro Cash Management system (nCMs), a comprehensive ‘one-stop-shop’ secure platform that offers financial institutions complete management and control of nostro accounts worldwide. The launch was announced following a successful certification period of nCMs at the national Commercial bank, one of saudi …

 Despite growing confidence across the global economy, it appears the well-publicised problems in dubai have contributed to a lack of business confidence in the Gulf region. The latest HSBC Gulf business Confidence Index fell from 81.4 to 80.2 between the third and fourth quarters of 2009, illustrating how the burden of debt within some Gulf states has stymied confidence.  “We …

 Citi has announced that its Global Transaction Services business for EMEA has extended its global platform for Citi Prepaid services by launching its payroll services in the uae for Voltas, part of the Tata group. Voltas is an engineering project specialist, and has already successfully undertaken and executed multimillion dollar electro-mechanical projects in the Middle east – along with the …

 The International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) has signalled its commitment to further growth and development by signing a deal with first data to host the bank’s credit card portfolio.  IBQ announced the deal in january, and said that first data will host the bank’s entire credit card operation via its first Vision processing platform. Philip King, head of retail at …

 The International Islamic Trade finance Corporation (ITFC), an autonomous entity within the IDB Group, has lent its weight behind regional and international efforts to launch a determined aid–for-Trade (afT) road Map in cooperation with the united nations economic social Commission West asia (ESCWA) and other regional and international bodies. This was announced in january by ITFC CEO, Dr Waleed Al …

 The merger between the two main trade associations for those engaged in cash management and trade finance was confirmed on 19 january. In a joint statement, the bankers’ association for finance and Trade (BAFT) and the International financial services association (IFSA) said the new organisation would be called bafTIfsa and will take its place as the most significant pressure group …