Trade

The BPO is an electronic trade finance payment assurance and risk mitigation tool created by banks to add value for corporate customers in a world where open account trade is growing, while growth in trade using bank partners and traditional letters of credit has remained stagnant. Here, a global survey reveals its uptake and other banking strategies In a 2012 …

Caroline Maginn looks at one of the growing number of companies in the KSA that is transforming itself into an international powerhouse The new corporate powerhouses in MENA started to announce further progress last year and it is a very exciting time to be a progressive corporate in the KSA, pro-active in the commercial equivalent of London’s financial Big Bang …

There are signs that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic finance institutions are increasingly looking to the UK in particular and the eurozone to a lesser extent to increase and diversify their trade finance, real estate and other investment portfolios. MUSHTAK PARKER takes up the story London is already one of the world’s largest domiciles for Murabaha business mainly through …

Many MENA banks now spend heavily on cutting-edge technology to keep their clients’ finances secure and protected from cyber fraud. PAUL MELLY looks at the sophistication behind their systems Few industries can have felt the positive impact of automation and online technology to such an extent as banking. What seemed implausible not so long ago is now routine, with massive …

The Middle East has seen a massive surge in aviation industry growth. At the start of the 1990s, the region operated 218 aircraft with 100-plus seats and, by the beginning of this year, 875 had taken to the skies. MELANIE LOVATT looks at what made it all take-off and how it’s funded Record orders for new aircraft have been placed …

In looking at the wholesale transaction-banking imperative, STEFAN DAB, senior partner and managing director, The Boston Consulting Group, looks at getting business models and execution right Current market dynamics are pointing increasingly to wholesale transaction banking as a key lever for improving return on equity in the global banking industry. In 2012, wholesale transaction-banking revenues were about $220bn, or roughly …

  As it becomes a strategic hub for rising intra-emerging market trade flows, the Middle East is at an inflection point in its development. BNY Mellon’s Bana Akkad Azhari assesses the effect of evolving trade patterns on the region’s transaction banking provision and the role local-global bank collaboration can play in navigating the changes Trade is synonymous with the Middle …

The Arab Spring countries are said to need billions of dollars to see them through “transition”. MUSHTAK PARKER looks at international efforts to help them No-one really knows how much financing is required to fund recovery and reconstruction in the so-called Arab Spring countries, euphemistically known by governments and multilateral development agencies as “countries in transition”. The countries in question …

A mere 300 participants attended the first Sibos. Thirty-five years on, more than 7,000 are expected for the world’s premier financial services event being held for the first time in the Middle East. PAUL MELLY looks at what’s on the agenda. When some 7000 participants gather in Dubai for the 35th edition of Sibos, this will mark a Middle Eastern …

BARBARA S. ISMAIL, executive vice-president, Cash Management Matters, looks at the argument that says financial stringency as a cure for economic weakness may be the wrong action at the wrong time Common wisdom, as promulgated by the IMF and other supranational organizations, has been that austerity is the best medicine for ailing economies, and countries from Argentina to Thailand have …

New money has now entered the trade finance field to boost liquidity levels and reduce the risks involved. LIZ SALECKA explains who is behind the trend While collaborations between banks, entered on both a funded and unfunded basis, have done much to address growing demand for more – and ever larger – trade finance facilities, there is a growing recognition …

ALEXANDER R. MALAKET, president of OPUS Advisory Services International Inc., looks at the evolution of the ‘relationship and trust theme’ from concept to business practice and operation. In other words, from ‘discussion to action’ There has been a great deal of focus, particularly since the eruption of the financial crisis, on the importance of a trust and relationship-based approach to …

MUSTAK PARKER reports on a plea for ‘a dedicated, qualified, modern, single globally accepted Shariah Committee’ Kuala Lumpur and Dushanbe are not exactly known for their revolutionary zeal. It is in these two capitals, however, that the patriarch of Islamic development finance, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, perhaps the most unlikeliest revolutionary in …

The traditional model of correspondent banking is changing as the relationship between global and local banks evolves. But how and what is driving this? PETER JAMESON from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyses the landscape and considers what the future might hold For many years, industry specialists have suggested that correspondent banking is dead and that now is the time …

Banks in the GCC have continued to grow and outperform international banks, according to a new study The banking industry in the Middle East settled at single digit revenue growth in 2012 with a 6.9 per cent increase, although the rise in profits was slightly higher at 8.1 per cent, stemming largely from extraordinary income sources. These were among the …

The greatest demand for MENA exports is going to continue to come from Asia, according to HSBC Commercial Banking’s Trade Forecast. Tim Reid, regional head of commercial banking for HSBC Middle East and North Africa, said, “Looking at the latest data, we see two key themes emerging at a regional level. First, Asia continues to be of increasing importance in …