Kuwait Fund Says More Than Doubled UK Investment In Past 10 Years

Kuwait Investment Authority, which has around $342 billion assets under management, has increased investment in Britain to over $24 billion.

Gulf’s Corporate Banks At Peak Levels

Corporate lenders in the GCC are falling behind their global counterparts in other areas however.

Dubai’s Emirates Plans New Aircraft Lease Deal For A380

The airline plans to lease the Airbus A380 aircraft from a finance company that will issue $630 million of bond-type certificates to fund the purchase.

Qatar Lifts 2013 GDP Growth Forecast To 5.3%

The Gulf state upped its forecast from 4.8 per cent, citing changes to its expected output of oil and gas.

Dubai-Based App Wally Receives Dhs1.5m Funding

The personal finance application has 100,000 active users and plans to introduce a new planning and budgeting feature.

Dubai Hires C.Suisse For Tunisia Telco Stake

Emirates International Telecommunications is stepping up sales from its telecoms portfolio to help repay Dubai’s debt pile.

Emirates NBD Announces Stan Chart’s Nelson As New CEO

Emirates NBD had previously said Pudner will see out his role until the end of the year when the change of position is expected to happen.

Bahrain Parliament Approves 11% Rise In Budget Spending

Budget expenditure in the small non-OPEC oil exporter is now expected to total 3.62 billion dinars in 2013, up from 3.26 billion actually spent last year.

Kuwait’s United Real Estate Raises KD60m Via Bond

The amount will be mainly used to refinance existing paper.

Dubai Holding Hires Citi To Advise Axiom Sale

Many of Dubai Holding’s units have had to hold talks with banks to extend liabilities and restructure debt.

Dubai’s Arabtec Extends $650m Share Offer Period

The closing date for subscriptions has been extended to July 4 from June 23.

Kuwait Sheikh Sues UBS For $21.4m In Dubai Court

Sheikh Meshal Jarah al-Sabah says the bank recruited him to scupper Vivendi’s bid to acquire Zain’s operations in Africa.

France and Qatar Launch New $394m Fund To Invest In French SMEs

Qatar had earlier planned to invest 50 million euros into businesses in French suburbs.

Abu Dhabi’s Merged Property Firms To Begin Trading On June 30

Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate will trade as a merged entity with a capital of Dhs7.86 billion.

First Gulf Bank Buys Dubai Credit Card Firm For $164m

The Abu Dhabi-based lender has acquired Dubai First from the debt laden Dubai Group.

Middle East HNWIs More Confident In Increasing Wealth

A study by Barclays Wealth shows a growing confidence of increasing fortunes compared to other global markets.

Kuwait Finance House Says 20% Capital Increase Oversubscribed

The sale will push the bank’s Tier 1 ratio towards its 17 per cent target for the end of 2013.

Local, Global Trends Boost Gulf Banks As Foreign Rivals Retrench

Gulf economies have ridden out the global financial crisis of the past five years more smoothly than many economists expected.

UAE Regulator – Bourse Merger Would Have “Many Advantages”

The UAE has revived a proposal to merge its two main bourses in a state-backed deal that could boost trading.

Oman Needs To Consider Fiscal Reforms

The sultanate’s central bank has issued a warning to the country which echoes a similar statement by the IMF last week.

Qatar Exchange To Start Trading Government Bonds

A market for corporate bonds would help companies finance their expansion plans.

UAE Revives Plans To Merge Stock Exchanges

The entire valuation and the structuring of the deal has already been completed, say sources.

Investcorp Buys 38% Stake In Saudi Energy Services Firm

The Bahrain-based investment firm is buying a stake in Al Yusr Industrial Contracting Co from two members of its controlling family.

Qatar Sells Back 10% Porsche Stake To Founding Families

Porsche was forced to sell the stake to Qatar Holding in 2009 as a way to prop up its strained finances.

Qatar Tightens Caps On Banks’ Securities Investment

Banks’ total investment in equities and debt instruments must be limited to 25 per cent of their capital and reserves.

Regional Political Tension Seen Hitting GCC Stock Markets

Saudi Arabia’s stock market, the region’s largest, dropped 4.3 per cent on Saturday.

UAE Finances Strengthening But Risks Remain In Dubai – IMF

The possibility of another boom-and-bust cycle in Dubai is a risk for the UAE economy in the medium term, the IMF warned

Open Books For Bonds – GCC Companies Must Bare All

The mandatory practice is unfamiliar to many local businesses but must be complied with in order to tap the growing markets.

Oman Needs To Slash Spending To Keep Budget Sustainable – IMF

The sultanate needs to adjust its fiscal balance by around 10 per cent of GDP over the medium term, said the IMF.

What Does The MSCI Upgrade Mean For UAE, Qatar?

The two nations have been upgraded from frontier markets to emerging markets by index compiler MSCI.