Kuwait’s $112bn pension fund has cash to burn after revamp

Cash accounts for about 11.5 per cent of its investments, which the fund aims to cut to 4 per cent over the next seven months

Dubai attracted around Dhs12bn of FDI in H1 2020

There were 190 FDI projects announced in the emirate in H1 2020, around 50 per cent of them being greenfield initiatives

Customers to earn $60.4bn in credit card rewards this year, research says

Rewards to climb to $67.9bn in 2023 as consumer credit spend recovers post-Covid

Zainab Invesco

Video: Where are Middle East sovereigns investing?

Fixed income and gold have emerged as attractive asset classes for regional sovereigns, finds the Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management study

Dubai UAE

JPMorgan sees virus fallout stoking Middle East deals into 2021

The first six months saw $72bn of bond issuance from the region

Bitcoin crashes spectacularly after hitting multi-year high of $12,000

More than $1bn in positions liquidated as bitcoin crashes by $1.4k in minutes

barakah nuclear energy uae

UAE begins nuclear energy production at Barakah plant

The UAE is the first Arab country, and the 33rd nation globally, to produce nuclear energy

Kuwait pension fund posts record first-quarter investment profit

The fund held $112bn in assets at the end of March last year

Etisalat’s eWallet expands into utility bill payments

eWallet is offering a Dhs5 cashback for eligible transactions of Dhs50

AXA to offer Covid-19 insurance cover

AXA will reimburse policyholders up to $5,000 for irrecoverable travel costs

Mastercard taps Microsoft Azure to boost R&D in ecommerce, fintech

Azure to serve as native cloud infrastructure for Mastercard Labs’ R&D efforts

First Abu Dhabi Bank

First Abu Dhabi Bank joins Mideast lenders in raising provisions

First Abu Dhabi Bank increased impairments to Dhs1.06bn ($289m) from Dhs467m a year ago

Shailesh Dash main

Phi Trends: The business implications of 5G

Investors must keep a lookout for stocks with game-changing potential, which inevitably will tap into 5G and enable future growth prospects, opines entrepreneur and investor Shailesh Dash

ADCB

UAE’s ADCB to lay off around 400 employees – reports

The bank had asserted in March that no employees would be made redundant as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

Dubai Financial Market announces H1 2022 results, posts net profit of Dhs63.4mn

Dubai Financial Market appoints new CEO, reports 21% rise in H1 profit

The DFM attracted 1,718 new investors during the first half of the year

Startupbootcamp establishes regional headquarters at Dubai’s DIFC

FinTech ranked first in the region for deals ahead of e-commerce and transport and logistics

Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered appoints new CEO for Saudi Arabia banking division

In February last year, the British bank received approvals from Saudi Arabia’s financial regulator to open a branch in the kingdom

HSBC arranges first green export credit agency loan for Saudi ministry

The proceeds of the loan are being used to purchase buses from Germany for the kingdom’s public transport network

Saudi car rental firm Theeb hires Fransi Capital for IPO

The IPO could happen next year, depending on how quickly the company recovers from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak

HSBC UAE launches online trading platform for wealth clients

The platform provides access to stock exchanges in the US, UK and Hong Kong

DIFC

China strengthens fintech cooperation with Dubai through new agreement with DIFC

Jiaozi Fintech Dreamworks and DIFC will collaborate on key sectors such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing

Covid-19 is the chief concern for UAE investors – UBS study

Majority of UAE investors said they were optimistic about the global economy

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia refutes reports that it is mulling income tax

An official within the government added that the “issue is fundamentally not for discussion”

Dubai Islamic Bank posts 23% dip in net profit for H1 2020

The bank’s total income worth Dhs6.8bn for the first half of 2020 also fell 2 per cent from Dhs6.98bn in H1 2019

Dubai’s Emirates NBD lists $750m bond on Nasdaq Dubai

The perpetual bond is callable after six years and pays a coupon of 6.125 per cent

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank partners with Bahrain bourse, Central Bank on new Shari’a-compliant framework

New structure reduces fees and provides an alternative for local financial institutions traditionally reliant on international brokers

Mastercard grants Wirex approval to issue crypto payment cards

Mastercard expands its Accelerate programme, making it easier for cryptocurrency and crypto card partners to join

Kuwait runs into resistance on bill to boost borrowing

Kuwait raised $8bn in March 2017 in its first sale of international bonds

Emirates NBD posts 45% dip in net profit for H1 2020

Net interest income worth Dhs9.3bn improved 36 per cent year-on-year in H1 2020