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

Morgan Stanley may sell commodity stake to Qatar - CNBC

It said a deal might be imminent, but cautioned the exact terms could not be determined and that discussions could still fall apart.

QNB, Stanchart win Qatar custody licence

QNB and Standard Chartered, he said, will be starting their activities as custodians in the next few days.

UAE brokerages under threat as volumes fall further

First-quarter trading activity surged from a low of Dh62 million (US$16.8m) a day in January to a peak of Dh981m in March as sentiment and investor appetite for riskier asset classes improved, causing many brokerages to postpone plans to shut down.

Bofa-ML study bullish over Dubai property

The research stated that if those jobs were created, and the new population had an average household size of three people, Dubai would see demand for an extra 317,000 units, or 94 percent of current stock.

Saudi CMA expected to start cross-listing foreign firms in 2013

Waleed Al-Bawardi, director of cash and markets at Tadawul, said details on disclosure requirements were being agreed with the CMA after the regulator amended listing rules in January to allow for cross-listing.

Bahrain Boosts Investor Confidence

The first conventional bond issue in two years was oversubscribed by 400 percent by investors from the United States, Asia and Europe.

Gulf Finance House restructures US$45 million debt

GFH has already paid US$55 million of the total amount in the past and now has restructured the remainder.

Revealed: Top 50 banks in the GCC

Kuwait’s National Bank of Kuwait was third, ahead of two more Saudi firms – Samba Financial Group and Riyad Bank.

Best year yet for Gulf Islamic bonds

Investment banks have funnelled cheap credit towards the Gulf in an effort to make up for declining fee income and maintain relationships with big corporate clients.

Will Saudi Arabia Open Its Exchange?

With 152 companies listed, the Tadawul is one of the biggest exchanges in the Gulf. And in terms of volume, it’s the largest in the region.

Cigna and Finansbank Announce Joint Venture Partnership in Turkey

The JV will provide Cigna opportunities to reach and serve a rapidly expanding middle class market in Turkey through Finansbank’s network of retail banking branches.

National Bank of Fujairah seals strategic tie-up with Oman Insurance

Through the partnership, NBF will gradually introduce a series of products over the next few years starting with general protection plans like mortgage, motor and salary insurance, before moving on to longer-term and more sophisticated solutions such as l

Top 100 Firms Have Combined $3 Trillion AUM‎ - Research

Towers Watson survey shows total global alternative assets under management near $5 trillion

Abu Dhabi property prices and rents fall

Rental rates dropped by as much as 15% in the second quarter of 2012, as new supply flooded into the market, according to the latest property report published from real estate consultancy Asteco.

Mideast M&A activity surges 45% to $8.5b in Q2

The region’s equity capital markets recorded issuances worth $5 billion down 40 per cent from the first six months of 2011, Thomson Reuters said in its 2012 investment banking analysis for the Middle East region.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund sees losses widen

Losses from struggling national carrier Gulf Air in particular weighed on the fund's income.

Hong Kong fund buys Jordan Dubai Capital

Dubai International Capital (DIC) the private equity arm of Dubai Holding, founded Jordan Dubai Capital in 2005.

Abu Dhabi firms to tap bond market in H2

Debt issuance from the Gulf region has held up well so far this year, as a turn to Islamic bonds - with their specific liquidity pool - and strong local liquidity helped confound volatile markets which stymied other emerging market borrowers.

Global investors snap up big chunks of Gulf bond issues

Just 43 per cent of Bahrain’s 10-year, $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) sovereign bond, issued last Wednesday, was placed in the Middle East. Thirty-two per cent went to investors in Europe, including Britain, 14 per cent to the United States, and 11 pe

Alkhabeer Capital to launch extensive investment programme worth US$400 million

The firm is now fully invested on its previous Saudi-Arabia development funds, Alkhabeer Land Development Fund I and Alkhabeer Land Development Fund II, which collected SAR290 million and SAR774 million respectively. Each was a single-asset fund.

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