Managers of Wealth Middle East -Wealth, private banking and asset management news and opinion

UAE Central Bank imposes Dh600,000 penalty on individual linked to exchange house

Individual banned from any future functions at licensed financial institutions

Oman SME registrations surge 14.4% in 12 months

The number of SMEs registered in the Governorate of Al-Wusta stood at 652 and the Governorate of Musandam 185, which was the lowest among governorates registered in January 2021.

Banks to inject EGP 117bn into MSMEs until 2022 end: CBE

Banks in Egypt required to increase financing to MSMEs to 25% of credit facilities portfolio

Egypt’s Banque du Caire eyes slimmed-down IPO post-Covid

Banque du Caire was on the cusp of completing a $500 million listing in London and Cairo last year when Covid hit.

Saudi Arabia’s financial regulatory authority refers five suspects to Public Prosecution

The statement said it had detected similar suspicious practices between Jan. 20 and Oct. 1 last year

QCB planning to launch regulatory sandbox for entities to test fintech solutions

The QCB has taken on a role of the “orchestrator” of Qatar’s fintech strategy, in addition to acting as the central regulatory authority of its fintech ecosystem, a QFC-Refinitiv report said.

Kuwait requests ability to withdraw from sovereign wealth fund

Kuwait's cabinet has submitted draft legislation to parliament that would allow government to withdraw up to $16.53bln from sovereign wealth fund annually

Fintech Co-operation between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates

The MoU will certainly set the stage for future joint experimentation of digital innovation between CBUAE and the HKMA.”

COVID-19 and regulatory uncertainty spur greater tax risk for organizations in 2021 and beyond, EY survey finds

Survey respondents say they anticipate a far more diverse tax risk environment spanning everything from scrutiny of routine business activity, to major, billion-dollar settlements in court.

Saudi Central Bank launches instant payment system Sarie

New IPS allows customers to send and receive low-value local remittances 24 hours a day

Abu Dhabi unveils investor visa

It will be made available to ‘top talent’ globally for up to 10 years

Barclays expects High Court judgment on Amanda Staveley case imminently

Staveley is asking for £819mln in damages through a civil lawsuit over the bank’s emergency cash call during the 2008 financial crisis

Global payments platform Adyen selects DIFC for its regional headquarters

The Centre’s comprehensive financial ecosystem continues to attract global payments and technology players to the region in order to scale via accessing MEASA markets.

CMA approves subscription results of Oman REIT Fund

REIT funds provide several investment options for investors allowing the companies and individuals to invest in properties

UAE banks returned $3.94bln received from Central Bank's $13.61bln TESS

The move is reflective of the robust solvency profile of the UAE national banks

Economic, commercial activities in UAE continue positive run in first half of February

4,300 new licences for economic and commercial activities around the country were issued in the first 15 days of February

Leading restructuring consulting firms ramping up in Gulf

The oil-producing nations of the Gulf have been among those hardest hit by the global pandemic, dealing with the double blow of both depressed economic activity and plummeting oil prices due to limited demand.

Qatar regulator launches platform to monitor human understanding of financial crime

Qatari financial services regulator works with global body to provide digital platform to assess whether financial services workers understand how to prevent financial crime

Global firms without headquarters in Saudi 'will have to make a choice' to land government contracts in 2024: finmin

Companies will, however, be free to work with the private sector.

As Lebanon's banks struggle to raise capital, a deadline looms

Given the wall of losses facing the financial sector, some investors and economists say it's too little too late anyway

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