2005
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UAE, Luxembourg tax accord
The UAE and Luxembourg yesterday signed a double taxation agreement to enhance the investment attraction of the two locations. Luxembourg's Minister of Economy Jeannot Krecke said that Dubai was now viewed as the gateway to finance in the Middle East and Arab world.
Invesco launches Mideast office
Global asset management giant Invesco is celebrating the opening of its new Middle East offices in Dubai tonight. CEO Bob Yerbury will also give a presentation concerning investment strategy to an invited audience, warning them that local stock markets may soon undergo a correction.
meCLASSIC low-income loans
Emirates Bank has launched the meCLASSIC Loan, making it the first bank in the region to provide loan solutions for the lower income segment of the market. The meCLASSIC Loan is targeted at customers having salaries between Dhs500-2,500. It offers them a loan of up to four times their monthly salary with a maximum loan amount of Dhs10,000.
ADCB, Al Bashaer Fund
The Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is promoting its Al Bashaer Fund , a new Shariah compliant fund that will be invested solely in GCC capital markets. The fund closes on November 21, and is managed by the Kuwait Finance and Investment Company and Gulf Finance House.
Gold hits 18 year high
Gold surged over $482 an ounce to its highest level in 18 years in New York trading today. Dealers are divided on whether the yellow metal will continue a thrust towards $500 by the year's end, driven on by global inflation fears, or remain volatile as demand for jewellery drops on higher prices.
$125m Lagoon City sukuk
The mandated arrangers, Kuwait Finance House, Liquidity Management Centre, and Muthanna Investment Company have launched a $125m Islamic Musharaka Trust Sukuk for the Lagoon City project, one of the real estate residential developments of the Khairan Pearl City Project in Kuwait.
HSBC Multimanager Islamic fund
HSBC Amanah has launched a sharia'a compliant open-ended investment company with variable capital, called HSBC Amana Investment Funds. The company comprises three regional Funds: the Americas Equity Fund, the Pan-European Equity Fund, and the Asia-Pacific Equity Fund. The bank says it has developed the product to meet investor demand for an Islamic Multimanager fund.
Daman fund, over 108% growth
The Daman UAE Value Fund has registered a year-to-date growth of 108.28% so far in 2005, and a 477.08% growth since its inception in 2001. The fund paid a record dividend of Dhs11 per share for Q3 2005, taking the total dividend to Dhs25 a share for the first three quarters of this year.
Citibank, NRI property facility
Citibank will open a real estate shop in the UAE in Q1 2006 which will accommodate expatriate Indians who want to buy property in their home country, reported Gulf News. The bank is driving to boost its non-resident Indian business, which has experienced year-on-year growth of 30-35% in the last four years.
UIB floats $52.5m property fund
Unicorn Investment Bank has structured a $52.5m real estate fund, called KSA Real Estate Fund-1. The two-year fund will invest in a residential project located in the northern suburbs of Riyadh, which is to be developed and sold-off by 2007.
$50m KFI Islamic fund
Bahrain-based Khaleej Finance and Investment and Deutsche Bank are offering a $50m sharia-compliant capital protected equity fund. The five-year closed end fund requires an initial subscription of $250,000, and is linked to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index. On maturity the fund pays 100% of the initial capital, with a minimum additional 8% return on investment, and not less than 90% participation of the average monthly performance.
Oman's smart-card rewards
A smart-card reward programme has been set up in Oman by BankMuscat, Oman Oil, Oman Mobile, and Lulu Hypermarkets. The Basma reward programme will allow cardholders to accumulate points for every riyal spent at partner outlets, which can be used for future purchases.
NBD, bonus issue, bond approval
National Bank of Dubai shareholders have approved a 1:5 bonus issue at a meeting yesterday. Approval was also given for the issue of the first bond in the international capital market, with Bank of America and HSBC to act as joint lead managers. The issue will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is likely to be introduced by the end of November.
Barclays taps regional wealth
Barclays Bank has around 12% of its 12,000 global private banking clients, who each have more than $2m to invest, in the Middle East. Meanwhile, of the 60,000 premier banking clients with $200,000 to $2m some 10% are in the region, officials told journalists at a presentation today.
DIB, GCC Shariah equity fund
Dubai Islamic Bank has launched the Al Islami Equity Fund, a $50m fund established with the mandate of investing in Shariah compliant securities across the six GCC Countries. The fund will offer 5,000,000 units at $10 each and applications must be for a minimum 25,000 for institutional investors and 250 for individual investors.
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