On the Move

Gassan Al-Kibsi and Nader Haffar in board of new Dubai chamber

Roland Berger promotes three to principal in Dubai office

Barclays appoints Chairman of Technology Investment Banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa

HSBC Private Banking announces its new Qatar head

Ali Ayach and Jatin Arora join Alvarez & Marsal as senior director

VFS Global strengthens its commitment to sustainability and people management with appointments

Legal, Tax, Regulation & Compliance

Qatar's PPP law expected to enhance opportunities in various sectors: PwC

Supporting MSMEs without putting banks at risk

UAE Financial Intelligence Unit in pact with China counterpart

Foreigners file slew of lawsuits against alleged Israeli investment scammers

Data on Maltese nationals’ Dubai offshore holdings given to police

Simmons hires construction and infrastructure partner in Doha

Retail Banking

Israel's Hapoalim ready to resume regular dividends after one-time payout - CFO

QIB second top bank in Qatar, 20th bank in ME

Saudi lenders report strong profit growth amid economic recovery

NBB group wins 'Collaboration in resilience' accolade at the BCI middle east awards 2021

Arab Bank Group First Half 2021 Net Profits Grow By 20%

Top Middle East corporates that announced Q2, H1 results today

Alternative Investments

Dubai company to link NSE with top Africa bourses

Dubai-based company setup firm expands operations in Saudi Arabia

Saudi British Bank swings to $245mln Q2 net profit

Investcorp swings to profit, N.American PE fund raises $1bln

Saudi mortgage lending surges 27% in first half of 2021 - SAMA

Mena region to see more SPAC deal

Wealth & Asset Management

Family offices in EMEA region focus on ESG investing, shy away from cryptocurrency

Digital Banking UX in Islamic Finance

NBO Launches Wealth Management Portal On Mobile App

Monaco Family Offices, funds keen to tie-up with UAE

Blacktower to expand into UAE and Switzerland

Euromoney awards UBS Middle East's Best Bank for Wealth Management for second year in a row

FinTech

Dubai watchdog gives regulatory nod to mobile investment app

ila Bank accelerates customer onboarding using the national eKYC platform

Saudi CITC pushes for more tech company listings on Tadawul

Fawry's OGM approves to buy Banque Misr, CIB stake in Fawry Plus

NBK Named Best Bank in “Innovation in Digital Banking” in the Middle East

Predixa launches AI-driven diversity, equity & inclusion service

Islamic Finance

Takaful’s net profit rises 75%

Dubai Islamic Bank raises foreign shareholding limit to 40%

Kuwait Finance House Q2 profit more than triples

Islamic banks’ market share expected to grow this year

Islamic social finance has a bigger humanitarian role

QIIB announces its results for the first half (H1) of 2021

Research, Comment and Analysis

GCC wealth: Saudi, UAE top the list; Bahrain marks fastest growth

UAE’s rich see their wealth grow to $600b despite the pandemic

UAE central bank maintains base rate on deposits at 15 basis points

Dubai house prices rise for second straight quarter in Apr-June

Three tips on how UK wealth managers can set up in the Gulf

Dubai mortgage deals surge 91% in H1 on back of lending reforms, rise in end

Investment Bank

Standard Chartered H1 profit surges on strong business momentum

EFG Hermes closes fifth issuance for premium international for credit services in an EGP 211mln securitization transaction

Saudi Investment Bank adopts Cisco SDN Architecture

HSBC collects five Euromoney Middle East Awards

HSBC collects five Euromoney Middle East Awards

Dubai’s Shuaa Confirms Talks to Set Up Three SPACs; Shares Surge

Covid-19

DHA announces reducing quarantine period for certain COVID-19 and close contact cases

Pandemic speeds up UAE’s transition to cashless ecosystem

Ten Ways Covid-19 Has Changed the World Economy Forever

COVID-19 sees 36,447 new online stores launched in Saudi Arabia

Economic outlook improves; UAE, Bahrain to get a boost from COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Eight ways how Covid-19 is impacting the future of mobility

Planet SOS

Deploy top talent into critical roles for a sustained advantage

What’s Next for ESG?

Middle East's shift towards renewable energy sources

How a new way to think about ESG can create value for banks

Sustainable investments account for more than a third of global assets

Saudi sovereign wealth fund scopes banks for ESG framework - sources