Germany's Deutsche Bank has no exposure to Dubai World, its top Middle East executive said at a conference today in Dubai. Henry Azzam Deutsche's regional chief executive, said he did not expect the Dubai debt crisis to have a major impact on the region's banking sector, Reuters has reported.
Bahrain's banks have about $281m in exposure to Dubai World, the country's Central Bank Governor Rasheed al-Maraj said today. Bahraini banks' exposure is less than 0.1% of total bank assets, al-Maraj said at a conference in Manama, according to Bloomberg.
Standard & Poor's has affirmed the foreign currency rating of Jordan-based Arab Bank Group at "A-" long-term with "Stable" outlook. The rating reflects the lender's superior geographic diversification, robust capitalization, strong liquidity and solid track record of good asset quality, the rating agency said.
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has marked the beginning of its operations in Asia with the launch of its first branch in Hong Kong. The new Asian branch aims to capture the trade and investment flows between the UAE and the MENA region, and Hong Kong, China and other key Asia economies, NBAD said.
Three of Oman's largest banks said on Sunday they had a total exposure of $77m to Dubai World, Reuters has reported. Bank Muscat, Oman's largest lender by market value, said it had 19.25 million riyals in exposure to a syndicated loan from the group, while National Bank of Oman said it had $22.6m of exposure and Bank Sohar $4.3m.
International ratings agency Fitch has said the banking sector in the UAE is capable of absorbing a significant increase in bad loans following its recent capital sensitivity test, Emirates Business has reported. The UAE banks' overall capitalization level of 18% of risk-weighted assets provides a substantial buffer, the rating agency said.
United Arab Emirates:
Sunday, December 06 - 2009 at 10:30
Muhammad al-Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) has said that the Saudi banks' exposure to Dubai World is very limited, Reuters has reported. 'If we look at the total balance of all Saudi banks ... exposure to Dubai World is less than 2 in a thousand,' he said, without clarification.
Saudi Arabia's Samba Financial Group has signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank AG Dubai to enable Samba to provide its corporate customers extended banking services globally. The agreement will enable corporate clients of the two lenders to open accounts with each other around the world.
The UAE's second-biggest bank by assets, National Bank of Abu Dhabi has announced plans to expand to Turkey, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, Bloomberg has reported. The bank prefers to "build rather than buy" in expanding its operations, though it will buy when the right opportunity comes, CEO Michael Tomalin said.
United Arab Emirates:
Saturday, December 05 - 2009 at 10:58
Egypt-based Arab African International Bank has said that only $98.8m, or 2% of its lending portfolio was with Dubai World group, Reuters has reported. The exposure includes $35m in syndicated loans to Dubai World, in addition to $54m in syndicated loans and a $9.8m bond to Dubai World property subsidiary Nakheel, the lender said.
Jordan-based Cairo Amman Bank has launched a new service offering its clients instant cash loans through its network of 210 ATMs across the kingdom. The new service will be available around the clock and clients will receive their loans without any paper work.
Gulf Bank has released a statement saying that it participated in unfunded syndicated facilities for Dubai World of KD28m, with maturity in June 2010. Fawzy Al-Thunayan, GM Board Affairs Gulf Bank stated that otherwise the Bank has no cash, other bank facilities or investments with Dubai World or its subsidiary, Nakheel.
HC Securities has said the impact of Dubai World's debt restructuring on the banking sector is less-than-notable, as reflected in a slight increase in inter-bank lending rates, according to Gulf News. 'A few retail investors may have panicked, but we have not seen deposit runs in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi-based banks,' HC Securities banking analyst Janany Vamadeva said. The three-month Emirates inter-bank offered rate stood at 1.94 compared with 1.92 on Wednesday.
United Arab Emirates:
Tuesday, December 01 - 2009 at 09:57
Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, governor of Kuwait's central bank has said that only two local banks were exposed to Dubai World's $59bn debts, Kuna has reported. Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait has $20m in bonds for Nakheel, while the Gulf Bank has $28m in unfunded risk participation for Dubai World, both will expire in June 2010, Al-Sabah told the news service.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the largest lender by market value in the UAE, on Monday said its exposure to two Dubai World affiliates amounts to $345m. The bank said it invested $114m in Nakheel's $3.52bn sukuk, which comes due December 14. It had $6m in the same December sukuk, held in NBAD's trading portfolio and marked to market. NBAD also said it had made general corporate loans amounting to $100m to Nakheel and $125m to Limitless. The two property developers are part of Dubai World which last week asked creditors for a six-month delay in repaying debt obligations. NBAD said it held no exposure to Dubai World Group itself, reported Reuters.
United Arab Emirates:
Monday, November 30 - 2009 at 13:43