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

Over 600 UAE bank employees laid off in 2017

Banks are trimming branch numbers as consumers tilt towards online banking.

FAB Celebrates Emirati Women’s Day 2018

The celebration was attended by the bank’s senior management and employees.

Oman share index ends higher

A total number of 261 trades were executed during the day's trading session generating turnover of OMR982,000 with more than 5.48 million shares changing hands.

Qatar sovereign assets totalling more than 100% of GDP to remain 'solid' until 2021: S&P

The average rating on the seven sovereigns is 'AA', compared with an average of 'BBB-' on all sovereigns S&P rate globally.

World Bank predicts high per capita income for Qatar in 2019

According to preliminary estimates, the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 236,000 riyals ($64,972) at the end of last year

UAE’s top real estate firms boost sales in Q2 but slow market weighs on profit

Aldar, Emaar and Damac reported increased revenues during the period but their profit was squeezed by higher cost of sales

Saudi Arabia is stumbling in its effort to build a global financial center

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to turn the kingdom into an investment powerhouse, ballyhooed at first, is meeting more skepticism as MBS, as the crown prince is known, launches ever larger visions.

FX debt to haunt Turkey - Rabobank

“Turkey’s banking regulator also made it prohibitively expensive to bet against the lira by reducing banks’ ability to supply the Turkish currency to foreign banks and financial institutions.”

Saudi energy minister denies report that Aramco IPO will be called off

A Reuters report quoted sources as saying that Saudi had called off both the domestic and international stock listing of Aramco

Qatar’s splurge will further undermine its economy

The proposed $15b infusion into an ailing Turkish economy is yet another indicator

Arab Persian Gulf States’ Investment in Russia

This year, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to create or rebuild vast swaths of his country’s infrastructure and RDIF is the lead agency responsible for the financing.

Distribution challenges for Middle East banks

The actual operational costs are lumped together without any effort being made to understand the actual “manufacturing costs” of bank products.

Saudi Arabia is stumbling in its efforts to build a global financial center

Saudi Arabia is the world's top-performing stock market in 2018, but its long-term vision of building a global financial center is moving slowly.

Bahrain's currency peg likely to remain intact, but kingdom's banks face tough times ahead

The kingdom's recent oil discovery will benefit the economy in the long-term, but will not solve short-term problems, experts say.

Qatar pushing for financial inclusion and literacy

Innovations in technology like mobile payments, mobile banking and borrower identification using biometric data enabled easier and less expensive use of financial services, while increasing financial security, the QCB said.

Long bank holidays send wrong signal to businesses

Limiting bank closures will help facilitate the UAE’s role as a business hub

The Effects of Expats’ Departure on Real Estate Market in Kuwait

Hike in electricity and water tariffs affected the investment real-estate sector along with the exit of a large number of expatriates.

Burgan Bank’s operations in Turkey fully hedged against lira fluctuations

Eguren: We are not anticipating any major impact

Saudi banks see no significant impact from lira depreciation

The currency has lost nearly 40 percent against the dollar this year

UAE’s top-four banks to maintain stable profitability into 2019, report says

The lenders’ combined net profit in the second quarter rose 21% year-on-year

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