Kuwait Archives

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Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance : A Tale Of Two Industries: Energy, Finance Deals Proliferate For Very Different Reasons

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS The volume of worldwide mergers and acquisitions totaled $730 billion in announced deals in the first quarter of 2008, a decline of 24.2% from the first quarter of 2007 and the lowest level for ...

Banking

Features : Sharing In Risk And Reward

SECTOR REPORT / ISLAMIC FINANCE The range of Islamic finance techniques is growing rapidly, but some are concerned that the most innovative products may be flouting shariah principles. While conventional financial markets are still reeling from the credit crunch, ...

Award Winners

Features: Awards: Islamic Financial Institutions

ANNUAL SURVEY / ISLAMIC FINANCE Global Finance selects the winners in a fast-growing area of finance that combines investing according to the tenets of Islamic law with modern financial products and systems. Islamic finance is a system of ethical ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance : Stock Issues Boom In Oil-rich Gulf

GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS Saudi Arabia’s Inma Bank, a new Islamic financial institution, raised $2.8 billion in its initial public offering of a 70% stake in April, the largest-ever IPO in the kingdom. Samba Capital, a subsidiary of Samba Financial, was ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Inflation Flares But Cool Heads Prevail

MIDDLE EAST GCC monetary leaders are pressing ahead with plans for a single currency, despite pressures to revalue. Central bank governors from the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gathered in Doha, Qatar, in April ...

Banking

Cover Story : Secondary Development

Middle East As Islamic bonds become more popular, banks are creating a viable secondary market. Emirates Islamic Bank: Reaping the benefits of a surge in business. Asurge in the issuance of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, and growing demand from ...

Banking

Cover Story: Let the good times roll

The Middle East Prudent investment of vastly increased oil revenues and a determination to build stable financial foundations are helping transform the Middle East into one of the world’s most vibrant economic areas. The DIFC in Dubai: One of the ...

Banking

Features : Opportunity Play

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS Sovereign wealth funds snap up bargains in one of the biggest financial industry land grabs in history. Bader Al Sa'ad, head of Kuwait's SWF, helped arrange a huge cash infusion for Citi. To say Citi and ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance : Greenback’s Decline Prompts Talk Of Central Bank Reserve Diversification And Ending Pegs To Dollar

CORPORATE FINANCING FOCUS The shifting sands in the foreign exchange market in 2007 undermined the dollar to the extent that China openly weighed what its state media refer to as the “nuclear option” of dropping its vast holdings ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Emerging Markets : Frontier Market Indexes Planned

DR NEWS New York-based MSCI Barra, which is majority-owned by Morgan Stanley, plans to introduce a family of benchmark indexes next month covering 19 “frontier market” countries. Institutional investors want to look beyond existing developed and emerging ...

Banking

Features : Changing The Game

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS With sovereign wealth funds rapidly becoming one of the most powerful forces in global finance, one key question has emerged: Should they be feared or revered? With the subprime-induced credit crunch causing stocks of financial giants such ...

Banking

Features : Shariah-Compliant Corporate Finance Forges Ahead

ISLAMIC INVESTMENT BANKING Investor demand, banks’ creativity and deep pools of liquidity in the Middle East are driving strong growth in the development of Islamic investment banking products. Hassoune:“Investors and entrepreneurs must hare the risks and rewards of ...