Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Kuwait approves public shareholding firms
May 27, 2010--Kuwaiti legislators have approved plans to set up public shareholding firms to build electrical power and water desalination plants, as part of a privatisation drive in the country, Reuters has reported.
According to the new law, a 26% stake will be offered in an auction for each company formed. The government will own a 24% stake, and the remaining 50% will be offered to Kuwaiti investors.
Source: AME Info
Saudi investors look to bonds
May 27, 2010--Fahad al-Saif, director of investment banking at HSBC Saudi Arabia has said that investors in the kingdom are being drawn towards bonds due to volatile equity markets and low interest rates on deposits, Reuters has reported.
"Investors have only two asset classes - equities and deposits in banks. Equities are now volatile and interest rates are low, so they are increasingly turning to bonds, bringing debt allocation into their portfolios," he said.
Source: AME Info
Dubai Financial Market pays two thirds of Nasdaq Dubai acquisition
May 27, 2010--Dubai Financial Market has paid two thirds of its acquisition of Nasdaq Dubai and has transferred 80 million of its shares to Nasdaq OMX Group, Bloomberg has reported.
The remaining third will be paid to Borse Dubai concurrently with the completion of the consolidation between Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai in due course, DFM said in a statement.
Source: AME Info
Dubai's economy to shrink in 2010, says IMF
May 25, 2010--The International Monetary Fund's director for Middle East and Central Asia said today that Dubai's economy will shrink about 0.5% this year, which would be the second straight year of contraction for the emirate, Bloomberg has reported.
Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate in the UAE, will grow 3.7% in 2010, Masood Ahmed told reporters in Dubai today.
Source: AME Info
DFM drops 4.64%
May 25, 2010--The Dubai Financial Market tumbled 4.64% today to 1,570, as only two stocks rose and 27 fell. Market heavyweight Emaar Properties dropped 7.82%, while fellow market leader Arabtec lost 7.11%.
International Financial Advisor had the day's biggest loss, falling by 10.00%.
Source: AME INFO
Bahrain Financial Exchange Launch the Exchange Business Handbook
May 25, 2010--Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in
the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, launched its official handbook leading up to
launch of the exchange later this year. The handbook, which aims to raise the market’s
knowledge and awareness of the financial exchange business, was launched at a media event
held today at the BFX offices located at the Bahrain Financial Harbor.
The event was patronized by Mr. Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director of the Central Bank of Bahrain. Mr. Arshad Khan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the BFX, introduced the media to the handbook. Entitled “The Exchange Business: An insight”, this guide has been designed to provide a better understanding of financial exchange operations and infrastructure. The publication represents a leading initiative by the BFX to facilitate market understanding and development, and educate the emerging professionals working in the financial sector.
Download the handbook-http://www.bfx.bh/downloads.html
Source: BFX
Global Islamic fund assets level at $52bn in 2009, says Ernst and Young
May 24, 2010-The 4th annual Ernst and Young Islamic Funds and Investment Report (IFIR 2010) released today at the World Islamic Funds and Capital Markets Conference states that global Islamic fund assets stagnated at $52.3bn in 2009, remaining at almost the same level as the $51.4bn posted in 2008.
In contrast, the global conventional mutual fund assets under management (AuM) exhibited signs of recovery from their lows of $19 trillion in 2008, reaching $22 trillion in 2009.
Source: AME Info
Islamic Finance Set to be a $ 2 Trillion Industry Globally Within Five Years
May 24, 2010--Islamic Finance is all set to be a $ 2 trillion industry in the next half a decade according to Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the MENASA Forum titled ‘The Challenges Ahead for Islamic Finance’, Siddiqui said: “It took the Islamic Finance industry 40 years to become a $ 1 trillion industry. It will take another two to five years to become a $ 2 trillion industry.”
However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome for the industry to realise its potential. Panellists said the lack of standardisation in the industry, the lack of consensus among Shari’ah scholars, the a poor “connectivity” between Islamic Finance institutions across the world, and the global shortage of experienced Islamic Finance professionals are some of the challenges facing the industry.
Apart from Siddiqui, panelists who participated in the discussion included Mutlaq H. Al-Morished, Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance, SABIC; and Harris Irfan, Head of Islamic Finance, Barclays Capital and Barclays Wealth. The session was moderated by Afaq Khan, CEO, Standard Chartered Saadiq.
Talking about the lack of standardisation and diversity of Sharia’h interpretation in the industry, Harris Irfan said it was becoming less of a challenge with the increasing convergence of standards. “I am 100 % convinced that we are seeing the convergence of opinion in Islamic Finance across countries, scholars and schools of thought.”
Earlier, introducing the discussion, Afaq Khan said that as with any fast growing industry, Islamic Finance also faces many challenges as the industry and its stakeholders try to keep pace with developments in human capital, access to Shariah guidance from scholars, changes in regulations aimed at allowing Islamic Finance to grow side by side with conventional finance and risk management both for Islamic Finance institutions and Islamic customers.
Source: DIFC
Saudi executives more confident in overall business outlook
May 24, 2010--The second Oliver Wyman / Zogby International survey of C-suite (including CEOs, CFOs and COOs) executives in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar finds the business mood in the region upbeat.
The 134 GCC executives surveyed expressed uniform confidence when asked about immediate and near term prospects: 58% of those surveyed regionally find current conditions improved (with 67% of the executives in Saudi Arabia perceiving conditions to have improved), and 82% are optimistic about the prospects for the next two years (with 85% of executives in Saudi Arabia expressing optimism).
Source: AME Info
Saudi banks focus on equity to back private firms
May 24, 2010--Official figures by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) have showed a continued decline in money supply in the kingdom and that Saudi banks had raised their investment in securities to support a cash-hungry private sector in April, Reuters has reported.
M3 growth slowed for a seventh straight month in April to 2.6% - the lowest in at least seven years.
Source: AME Info
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