China offers to buy 5% of Saudi Aramco directly

Allowing China to buy 5 per cent of Aramco would effectively mean cancelling the planned IPO

Saudi sovereign fund PIF hires senior officer

Greg Bankhurst has been appointed chief development officer

UAE’s finance ministry yet to fix VAT rate on goods, services

The UAE is set to introduce VAT from January 1, 2018

Dubai Aerospace plans sukuk issue by mid-2018

The Dubai government-controlled company is one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors

Saudi may raise loan-deposit ratio for banks

The central bank last raised the ratio in February 2016, to 90 per cent from 85 per cent

IMF says income tax may become “necessary” for GCC states

The Gulf countries are preparing to implement a 5 per cent value added tax rate next year

Saudi preparing tougher rules for insurance firms – sources

The Saudi insurance sector has come under pressure as the economy has slipped into recession this year

VAT to create over 5,000 jobs in the GCC – analyst

The UAE will begin implementing the tax in January 2018

Saudi regulator monitors Banque Saudi Fransi over governance issues

SAMA did not elaborate on the nature of the bank’s “deficiencies”

UAE’s Abraaj invests in Colombian firm QBCo

QBCo is the largest private label food manufacturing company in Colombia

UAE app aims to make half of transactions cashless in 5 years

Pilot projects using the app will begin in the coming month

Saudi sovereign fund creates $1.07bn ‘fund of funds’ to back SMEs

The PIF expects the investments to create 2,600 jobs and contribute SAR400m to GDP by the end of 2020

Saudi central bank paints rosy picture of economy

Latest official data showed the economy in recession during the second quarter

UAE banks seek to reduce cash usage with new app

Klip allows the cashless spending, transfer and storage of money

Bahrain’s Investcorp eyes businesses linked to Aramco, Saudi healthcare

The firm is eyeing businesses that “live around Aramco”

Survey reveals 76% of UAE residents plan to delay retirement

Residents were found to be avoiding retirement for financial and social reasons

Saudi market regulator loosens asset management rules

The revisions will reduce requirements for obtaining a “management activity” licence

Dubai’s Mashreq to cut branches as it shifts towards digital banking

The downsizing will translate into a reduction of 15 to 20 per cent of the bank’s staff in retail services

Saudi stocks may be hurt, Kuwait uninspired by FTSE’s index decisions

On Friday FTSE said it would reevaluate Saudi’s emerging market index inclusion in March next year

Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala swings to H1 profit

Mubadala suffered a net loss of Dhs4.7bn in the first half of 2016

Saudi Arabia sells third international bond to raise $12.5bn

Wednesday’s issue was split into three tranches

Alabbar-backed VC firm launches $250m MENA fund

The Middle East Venture Fund III will invest in early-stage and growth-stage tech companies

Saudi Arabia hires banks for third international bond

Saudi Arabia could issue up to $10bn, banking sources said

Dubai’s Arqaam Capital launches specialist fixed income funds in DIFC

The funds will target annual returns of 6-7 per cent

Dubai Parks operator takes Dhs245m loan from shareholder Meraas

The loan will be used to fund operational expenses and debt repayments

Dubai’s Atlas Jewellery still struggling to resolve debt issues

Atlas defaulted on loans in 2015 and its owner, M M Ramachandran, was sentenced to a three-year jail term

Saudi completes third monthly issue of domestic sukuk

Riyadh started issuing domestic conventional bonds in 2015

Abu Dhabi Financial Group plans $100m private bond sale

The privately owned investment company has over $5bn of assets under management

Abu Dhabi Global Market, KPMG select 11 finalists for fintech challenge

Two winners will be selected and invited to demonstrate their solutions at the Global FinTech Hackcelerator in Singapore

Abu Dhabi bank ADCB’s services will be unavailable for three days

The bank is carrying out a system enhancement during the end of the month