Bitcoin is ending its bang of a 2021 with a winter whimper

Bitcoin’s gains for the year remain impressive

Bahrain’s financial group acquires US medical offices for $200m

Spread across seven states, the medical offices portfolio consists of 11 assets and 400,000 square feet of space

UAE: Over 60% of clients set to approach their banks for new services

A recent report advices banks to quickly redesign their respective diversification strategies to remain relevant in the future

Economists debate how Omicron will impact the global recovery

The imposition of travel restrictions will shake consumer and corporate confidence

Abu-Dhabi

Multiply Group becomes IHC’s 8th subsidiary to list on ADX

The group will list on ADX’s main market on December 5

Khalifa University

UAE’s Khalifa University launches investment arm with Dhs100m endowment

The newly formed Khalifa University Enterprises Company will act as the business and investment arm of the university

Saudi stock exchange sets IPO offer price at top end of range

Tadawul set the price at SAR105 per share after an institutional book-building process

Saudi Arabia

Moelis plans Saudi hires as it seeks to open Riyadh office

The Saudi economy, the biggest in the Middle East, is growing at its fastest pace in almost a decade

Emirates Development Bank lends over Dhs700m to UAE’s industrial sector

The financial package was made available to companies across five sectors – industry, technology, healthcare, food security and infrastructure

Dubai’s Shuaa Capital plans two listings

Shuaa restructured the company at the start of this year by completing a Dhs1.13bn debt buyout

Revealed: Winners at the 2021 Gulf Business Awards

The awards lauded luminaries from across the region’s business ecosystem

Shanghai

UAE’s First Abu Dhabi Bank to open first mainland China branch

FAB will offer both RMB and foreign currency business onshore in China through its new branch in Shanghai

Dubai

State-owned Bank Syariah Indonesia to open representative office in Dubai in 2022

It will work across three key business areas: global sukuk, remittance, and trade finance

Dubai UAE

Dubai issues 55,194 new business licences during the first 10 months of 2021

The figure marks a 69 per cent increase over the same period in 2020 when 32,626 licenses were issued

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE MOCCAE, Eugene Willemsen, and Aamer Sheikh

PepsiCo launches MENA edition of Greenhouse Accelerator programme

It has partnered with the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment for the initiative

fintech

VentureSouq launches MENA region’s first fintech fund

The $50m fund will invest in early-stage fintech and SaaS companies across the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan

Saudi stock exchange seeks to raise as much as $1bn in IPO

The exchange is selling a 30 per cent stake, or 36 million shares

Emirati employee

Emirati members of Dubai SME to get up to seven-year exemption on licence fee

The fee exemption applies to registered Emirati members who have not completed the five-year period

Here’s how the future of payments looks like in the Middle East

As the MENA market matures, several nations are shifting towards more sophisticated and customised payment options says Ozgur Ozvardar, vice president and general manager, Verifone Middle East and North Africa

EFG Hermes Holding concludes acquisition of aiBANK

Via the transaction, the firm is marking an entry into the Egyptian commercial banking sector

Up to 66% of Indian expats plan to increase their investments in the UAE – HSBC

Property is seen as the most important investment class for Indians in the UAE

EFG Hermes Holding reports 26% increase in net profit for first nine months of 2021

The group’s revenues also increased 8 per cent for the first nine months of the year

Dubai Financial Market

Dubai’s DFM announces programme to encourage listings from private businesses

The programme encompasses incentives including financial and post-listing support

Emirates Islamic lists another $500m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

The latest listing brings the bank’s current sukuk value on the exchange to $1bn

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank appoints DIB banker as group CEO

Nasser Abdulla Al Awadhi previously served as the group chief of consumer banking at Dubai Islamic Bank

DubaiDubai Future District Fund

New Dhs1bn fund to support tech startups in Dubai

Sharif El-Badawi has been appointed as CEO of the Dubai Future District Fund

Dubai tech firm StarLink unveils listing plan

StarLink provides cybersecurity and cloud services across the Middle East, Africa and Turkey

Dubai’s utility asks banks to pitch for multi-billion dollar IPO

DEWA reported net income of $1.3bn for 2019

SEC rejects Bitcoin ETF, showing it still opposes spot listing

October’s launch of two Bitcoin futures ETFs marked a major milestone for the industry

UAE’s Century Financial to launch new funds, AI trading platform and property crowdfunding site

The investment firm is diversifying its business with plans to also launch in Saudi soon, says Ali AbdulKareem Ali, senior executive director at Century Financial