ArchivesTag : banking
ADIH exits Porta Reef Fund
Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) has announced the partial exit of its Porta Reef Fund, which funded the purchase and development of three 10-storey residential towers on Reef Island.
‘During the current tough global economic environment, the ADIH team continues to diligently work on safeguarding investors’ interest, said ADIH chief executive officer Fawaz Ali Al Jowder.
‘The [...]
Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House says CEO Quits
Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) said on Wednesday Chief Executive Ahmed Fahour had quit after just five months, a setback for the loss-making bank’s efforts to restructure and find new revenue streams.
GFH said in a statement Fahour had been appointed by the Australian government as managing director at Australia Post and current Group Deputy [...]
Bahrain’s ABC bank plans $1.1 bln capital increase
Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation ABCB.BH (ABC) said on Wednesday it plans to increase its capital by $1.11 billion to finance its Middle Eastern growth strategy and make acquisitions.
It said the capital injection from its existing shareholders would bring its capital to $3.11 billion.
“Expansion by way of an acquisition is also not excluded, as and when [...]
Faisal private bank chief executive resigns
Faisal Private Bank’s Chief Executive Marco Rochat has resigned, effective from the end of 2009, a spokeswoman for the Geneva-based subsidiary of Bahrain-listed Ithmaar Bank ITHMR.BH said on Monday.
The resignation comes just days after news of problems with Faisal’s real estate portfolio which had led the bank to ask clients for cash injections or risk [...]
Bahrain-Based Gulf Finance House Lowered To ‘BB+/B’ On Weakened Stand-Alone Credit Profile; Outlook Negative
The operating environment for Gulf-based investment banks continues to be unsupportive, weighing substantially on earnings and prompting revisions of business models.
We are lowering our counterparty credit ratings on GFH to ‘BB+/B’ from ‘BBB-/A-3′.
The outlook remains negative, reflecting the bank’s poor revenue prospects and expected difficulties in implementing its new strategy.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today [...]
Saudi Arabia’s Algosaibi Said to Owe $9.2 Billion to Banks
Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co., the Saudi family holding company whose Bahraini bank has defaulted, owes 34.6 billion Saudi riyals ($9.2 billion) to more than 100 banks, two people familiar with the situation said.
The Algosaibi group held a meeting with creditors in Bahrain June 24 to ask for a grace period of 90 days [...]
Central Bank of Bahrain in funds inquiry
The Central Bank of Bahrain is investigating Global Investment House, a top Kuwaiti investment bank, over transactions the bank had entered into with funds it manages.
Various funds in Global’s hedge fund group, some domiciled in Bahrain, entered into at least $25.75m of so-called murabaha transactions – a kind of short-term Islamic debt financing structure – [...]
Trouble in the Middle East’s banking centre
For three decades, Bahrain has been the banking capital of the Middle East. It is home to 150 banks, employing more than 14,000 people.
However, it is also a close-knit, island community of only 740,000 nationals. Depriving a fellow Bahraini citizen of his or her livelihood is widely seen as a form of social betrayal.
So when [...]
Investcorp scraps COO role amid turmoil
Bahrain investment bank Investcorp has scrapped the position of chief operating officer to “streamline its management” in the current economic climate, it said on Friday.
Investcorp posted a first-ever loss of $511 million for the six months ended Dec. 31 after hedge fund investments, portfolio companies and its fee flow from managing transactions were hit by [...]
Investcorp cuts chief operating officer role
Bahrain-based private equity group Investcorp has made its chief operating officer, a 15 year veteran of the Middle Eastern private equity industry, redundant in a bid to “streamline” its senior management.
Full StoryGroup scales back unit operations
Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi & Brothers Company (AHAG) yesterday announced that it was aware of substantial financial irregularities within its financial services arm.
In a statement issued yesterday it said: “As previously communicated by the group, the operations within AHAG’s financial arm have been significantly scaled back pending a more in-depth review and assessment of each [...]
BankMuscat exposed to defaulting Saudi groups
has direct exposure to two large Saudi groups – the Al Gosaibi Group and the Saad Group who have defaulted on their payment obligations across a number of banks.
These groups’ obligation to BankMuscat amounts to approximately 49 million Omani riyals (Dh465 million) through their Riyadh Branch, says a press release from the bank here [...]
Gosaibi impact on Gulf widens
The impact of troubled Saudi groups Saad and Al Gosaibi widened on Thursday with the first bank detailing its exposure while Al Gosaibi said it had discovered evidence of “substantial financial irregularities.” Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest lender, said on Thursday its exposures to both Saudi groups total $171.4 million through its Riyadh branch and said [...]
Full StoryTroubled banks swing spotlight on to Bahrain
When Saad Group, a troubled Saudi company, blamed its woes on a liquidity squeeze and singled out recent events affecting the Bahraini banking sector, it met with a furious response from the kingdom’s regulator.
In a rapid turnround the conglomerate, owned by Maan al-Sanea, issued a fresh statement the next day that lavished praise on the [...]
Jobs panic in Bahraini banks
Gulf International Bank’s decision to axe nearly 20% of its workforce on Monday, has prompted fears that further cuts could be on the cards and that another three banks are mulling redundancies in the kingdom.
The Bahrain Bankers’ Union has said that it expects another three local banks to announce redundancies in the next month and [...]
