Saudi’s Samba CEO sees U-shaped recovery after ‘triple jeopardy’

The kingdom unveiled a second $13.3bn stimulus package to protect lenders against an expected drop in profits and rise in bad loans

Facebook and Khalifa Fund relaunch ‘She Means Business’ mentorship programme in the UAE

The programme will support and train 1,300 women entrepreneurs through a series of virtual training sessions

Sharjah Islamic Bank lists $500m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

The latest listing raises the total value of sukuk listed in Dubai to $69.29bn

Dubai’s DGCX to launch first FX rolling futures contracts in July 2020

These will be perpetual contracts that are automatically rolled over at the close of the trading day if an open position still exists

Oman Muscat

Moody’s downgrades Oman for a second time in 2020 as oil dips

This year, Oman trimmed its budget expenditure and announced liquidity support in an effort to provide some relief from the Covid-19 shock

Mubadala to double down on tech after $1.2bn Jio stake

The $232bn fund is looking at India, China and Southeast Asia for potential investments

This UAE firm offers a letter of guarantee with no fees in less than 24 hours

UAE-based Finance House offers the Al Rabeh Guarantee service to support local businesses

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala weighs selling property assets to Aldar

Mubadala may also dispose of some residential buildings in the United Arab Emirates’ capital

UAE Central Bank’s TESS liquidity scheme availed by 26 banks

More than 140,000 eligible customers have already benefited from the TESS liquidity facility

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ in talks for loans to fund acquisition spree

The investment firm could raise more than $3bn through a five-year loan

saudi arabia covid-19

Saudi Arabia rolls out $1bn industrial support package

Gross domestic product is expected to shrink the most in two decades this year

Dubai Islamic Bank lists $1bn sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

The sukuk was nearly 4.5 times subscribed with a profit rate of 2.95 per cent per annum

Goldman banker moving from Dubai to London in latest change to Mideast lineup

Fabrice Francois will join Goldman’s mid-market advisory franchise, known as the cross markets group

careem now

Careem launches ‘super app’ to offer ride-hailing, delivery and payments on one platform

The roll-out of the super app started in March 2020 and is expected to complete by the end of June 2020

UAE’s Emirates Islamic offers free Business Banking debit cards to SMEs

The initiative will grant an alternative channel to customers seeking access to cash

Amlak International announces intent to list on Saudi bourse

The offering will comprise of 27,180,000 ordinary shares

Abu Dhabi service marketplace Rizek raises $3.5m in seed funding

The startup also plans to invest in upskilling its freelancers and SME service providers to help them garner more opportunities

sheikh hamdan

Islamic Economy accounted for Dhs41.8bn of Dubai’s GDP in 2018

It contributed 9.9 per cent to Dubai’s GDP in 2018

Abraaj ex-CEO’s alleged theft cost the firm $385m – liquidators

Naqvi is one of six former Abraaj executives who face charges stemming from the private equity’s firm’s 2018 collapse

Explainer: Have contactless payments taken off in the GCC?

The Covid-19 pandemic has made contactless payments more relevant than ever before. Khalid Elgibali, MENA division president at Mastercard, discusses whether adoption in the GCC grown significantly

No acquisition by US-based bank, clarifies Dubai lender Emirates NBD

The bank stated that 101,731,408 of its shares were purchased by 254 unique investors on May 28

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala posts 324% increase in 2019 income

At end of 2019, its assets under management (AUM) stood at Dhs853bn, compared to Dhs840bn in 2018

Founder of Bahrain’s Investcorp Nemir Kirdar dies

Kirdar founded the company in 1982 and led it for over three decades

Outward personal remittances from the UAE in Q1 2020 increased 7.8% y-on-y

The top five destination countries for remittances were India, Pakistan, Philippines, Egypt and the US

Four MENA IPO deals raise $814.2m in Q1 2020

Globally, 235 IPOs raised $28.5bn in Q1 2020, compared to $15.1bn in Q1 2019

Bahrain’s GFH Financial Group lists $200m sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai

This marks GFH’s second sukuk listing on Nasdaq Dubai, following the listing of a $300m sukuk in February this year

Deutsche Bank’s head of EMEA to exit the company

Ashok Aram, who also heads the firm’s international private and commercial bank operations, is departing for personal reasons

Bank of America acquires stake in Dubai’s Emirates NBD

The acquisition of a 100 million shares is worth around Dhs900m

Aramco backs New York fintech firm offering Islamic investments

Wahed Invest got the financing from Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures unit as part of a $25m funding round

Dubai’s DIFC invests in four fintech startups via its $100m fund

The investment, part of its $100m FinTech Fund to help establish and upscale fintech companies, reinforces DIFC’s commitment to drive advancements in the financial services sector