Franklin Templeton funds get Saudi QFI status ahead of MSCI decision

MSCI is expected to announce whether it will include Saudi in its emerging market index later this week

Emirates Islamic appoints new CEO

Salah Amin replaces Jamal Bin Ghalaita, who is retiring.

Different Arab money

UAE, Saudi central banks hike repo rates

The move came after the US Federal Reserve raised its target range for the federal funds interest rate by a quarter point

UAE’s Abraaj sells entire stake in Orascom Construction

The company sold its 5.4 per cent stake for about $52m

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to launch $400m European tech fund

Japan’s Softbank Group will participate in the fund as a strategic investor

Dubai cryptocurrency exchange becomes region’s first to get sandbox licence

Palmex received the licence from the Central Bank of Bahrain

Creditor starts legal proceedings for Abraaj restructuring

Auctus is the second creditor, after Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security, to start legal action in the Cayman Islands

Abu Dhabi’s Waha Capital abandons plans for $300m PE fund

Demand for Middle East private equity funds has been hurt by allegations that Dubai’s Abraaj misused investor money

UAE Central Bank halts remittances at seven exchanges

The affected firms failed to regularise their activities during a grace period given by the bank

UAE securities regulator examines Abraaj investor impact

Abraaj, which bankers estimate has debt of about $1bn, is grappling with allegations that it misused investor money

Kuwaiti creditor refuses Abraaj deal, may prompt provisional liquidation

Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security has reportedly refused to join other creditors in the debt freeze

Up to 85% of UAE residents not saving enough for their future – report

Survey finds that 41 per cent of UAE respondents plan to start saving in 2018

Dubai’s Mashreq applies for Saudi banking licence

Mashreq sees opportunities in consumer and corporate banking, sources said

Dubai’s Abraaj expects deal on secured debt, Kuwaiti creditor holds out

The standstill will see Abraaj’s $1bn debt frozen for around 90 to 120 days, sources said

Dubai’s Abraaj to meet with creditors this week to discuss debt – sources

Abraaj is being advised on the matter by US investment bank Houlihan Lokey

Court rules Saudi firm complicit in ponzi scheme ‘worse than Madoff’

Cayman Islands chief justice Anthony Smellie described the AHAB dispute as “one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history”

UAE Exchange now authorised to accept VAT payments

Companies can now make their VAT payments in any of the 150 UAE Exchange branches in the country

UAE cracks down on insurance consultants

Recently introduced qualification and indemnity requirements are expected to significantly reduce number of consultants

Two more senior executives leave Dubai’s Abraaj – report

The resignations come even as Abraaj is facing allegations of misusing investor money

Saudi’s largest lender National Commercial Bank appoints new CEO

NCB said last week that former chief executive Saeed al-Ghamdi had resigned

Abu Dhabi appoints new board, chairman for its bourse

Khalid Abdullah Al Muhairi has been appointed as the chairman of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Deutsche Bank cuts jobs in Dubai

The research analysts covered dozens of companies from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey

StanChart’s private equity arm mulling sale of stake in Saudi Binladin group unit

The bank bought a stake in Construction Products Holding for $75m in 2011

Video: Dubai’s DIFC reveals new Dhs180m Exchange building

Located at the DIFC Gate Village, the development was completed in March

Saudi companies urged to file VAT returns by month-end

The kingdom implemented the tax at the start of the year

Abu Dhabi’s Gulf Capital eyes deals in Saudi

The company is looking to invest in consumer-led sectors and renewable energy

Oman Arab Bank, Alizz Islamic consider merger

Consolidation has increased across the Gulf banking sector over the past two years

TPG in talks with Abraaj investors to manage healthcare fund assets

The talks come after Abraaj indicated it may step down as the manager of the fund

Dubai’s Emirates NBD to acquire Turkey’s DenizBank for $3.19bn

The agreement will expand Emirates NBD’s international presence to 13 markets

Nasdaq Dubai to launch future contracts on Saudi firms in 2018

The futures will begin trading in the third quarter