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

Qatar bank acquires two London properties

Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) has acquired two properties in central London, The Leinster Inn Hotel at Leinster Square and Westbourne House, Westbourne Grove, the company said in a statement.

Bahrain harnesses financial leadership to boost social enterprise

This week marks the launch of Social Business Week 2012, an event organized by the Family Bank, the Middle East's first Islamic microfinance bank, in collaboration with the Grameen Creative Lab.

Lebanon's Aksys Capital and Abu Dhabi's ADS Securities sign cooperation agreement

It provides wealth management, financial engineering, and advisory services in addition to a competitive package of online and offline brokerage services in terms of pricing, fees, execution, and support. Working with a wide range of individual and instit

Trafigura gets $400 mln loan from Mideast banks-sources

"Before, the pricing they could get from international relationship banks meant they didn't have to expand too far from them, but now they are looking at other sources," said a second source, whose bank joined the transaction.

Jordan War Talk Hurts Real Estate Sector

Jordan’s once booming real estate sector is struggling under political and economic uncertainty while, citing the crisis in neighboring Syria, investors and bankers are predicting difficult times.

Fifth of UAE bank assets exposed to property - cen bank

The Central Bank said that the UAE’s banking sector had learned lessons from property crashes such as in the US in the 1980s and Japan and Sweden in 1990s, which had helped it contain its own property crisis, which hit in 2008-2009.

Dubai International Financial Centre grows 6% in first half 2012

Dubai International Financial Centre has updated the market today on its continuous positive performance throughout the first half of 2012.

MidEast investors launch $20m bid for Portsmouth

Middle East investors have lodged a dramatic $20m bid to take over troubled football club Portsmouth, Arabian Business can reveal.

MidEast investors 'close to exit' on Leeds deal

The paper quoted a source at Leeds United as saying the offer from the Middle East was “still there”, but that the prospective new owners were losing patience.

SunGard identifies ten asset management trends affecting the fund management industry

Doug Morgan, president of SunGard’s institutional asset management business discuss the top trends affecting the fund management industry in 2012

PE firm buys 6.6 pct of Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank

The firm declined to disclose the monetary value of the deal. It is not yet considering seeking a seat on the bank's board because the term of the current board has yet to expire, Foursan's vice-president Jameel Anz told Reuters.

Alpen Capital opens office in Bangalore

Alpen also operates a financial advisory and consultancy firm in India called Sarasin Alpen India, a subsidiary of the Swiss private bank, Bank Sarasin.

Dubai Group sells Turkey investment arm

Dubai Group Sigorta was formed in 2008.

GulfMena to launch DIFC-based fund with Solo Capital

The firm will act as the manager of the fund, while UK-based investment manager Solo Capital will retain an advisory role. Morgan Stanley has been appointed as prime broker, while Apex will act as the fund administrator.

Dubai Financial Market reports its performance for August 2012

The value of stocks bought by foreign investors during this month reached Dhs1.134bn comprising 50.7% of the total traded value.

NSE exploring tie-up with Qatar Exchange

NSE’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ravi Narain on Tuesday met top officials of Qatar Exchange and briefed them about facilities that the Indian bourse offers to foreign investors.

Emirates NBD recognized in inaugural Visa Leader Awards

The Leader Awards seeks to recognise and honour financial institutions that demonstrate best practices in implementing secure and reliable fraud management infrastructure, and aims to sustain and enhance risk management standards across the financial serv

EFG Hermes Securities Brokerage Achieves Major Milestones

Despite a challenging 2011 for domestic markets, during which the Egyptian Exchange lost nearly half its market capitalisation, as well as further difficult conditions during 2012, the EFG Hermes Securities Brokerage Division has successfully maintained i

Israel's Harel to buy Eliahu's life insurance business

The deal is conditioned upon Shlomo Eliahu acquiring control of Migdal from Generali, Europe's No. 3 insurer, as well as regulatory approval.

Dubai property valuations drop 26% in H1

In the first half of the year, the Real Estate Appraisal Centre (REAC) at Dubai Land Department (DLD), valued 1,090 properties at the request of property owners with a total value of AED42bn (US$11.4bn), the WAM news agency reported.

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