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Fitch downgrades banks in UAE
September 24, 2009--Fitch Ratings downgraded a raft of banks in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday due to the lower likelihood of state support for some of the smaller or privately owned financial institutions
The credit ratings agency also downgraded two important Dubai-based companies, and put Etisalat the UAE’s dominant telecoms company, on review for a downgrade, indicating that the Gulf state is still facing stresses due to the global financial crisis.
Proposed law changes regarding foreign ownership of companies onshore in the UAE
September 18, 2009--The UAE Ministry of Economy proposes to change the rules regarding 'onshore' companies in the UAE so that foreigners can own up to 100% of such companies' shares.
100% foreign ownership is already available for companies set up in the UAE's freezones, which have been a cornerstone of the UAE Government's drive towards diversification of the economy.
At present, foreign participation in local liability companies (known as 'LLCs' - the form of company at which this law change is targeted) is limited to 49% of the shares of those companies.
Islamic syndicated lending
September 17, 2009-The concept of syndicated lending may have been born in the 1960s in the world of conventional finance but it was not until earlier this decade that it found its way into the Islamic finance lexicon. Syndicated loans are quite simply an integral part of capital raising for large corporate and financial institutions.
Within the realm of Islamic finance, syndicated loans can take a variety of forms and may be a form of Musharaka financing but because of the prohibitions in Islamic finance concerning riba there are significant differences between an Islamic syndicated loan and a conventional syndicated loan.
Dubai market: Islamic stocks lose
September 13, 2009--Shares of firms operating in line with Islamic law (Sharia) posted the largest losses at the Dubai bourse DFM. The DFM Index lost half a per cent and closed at 2,030.04 points with almost Dhs860m value traded.
Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House (off 9.89% at Dhs6.74), Shari-compliant developer Deyaar (down 2.44% at Dhs0.80) and Islamic insurance operator Takaful-EM (3.28% lower at Dhs1.77) ended among the top losers. Emirates NBD, the UAE's and Middle East's biggest lender in relation to assets, resisted the dull trading and finished 2.16% higher at Dhs3.16. Four shares gained in total, 22 securities declined in value and two stocks remained flat.
