Middle East
UAE Reforms May Lead to an Identity Crisis Amongst Free Zones
With various emirates looking to make themselves more competitive, drive local employment and revive stagnating sectors, UAE authorities have through a series of new laws tried to make it easier for businesses to integrate into the local economy and secure more foreign investment. The moves, however, raise difficult questions about the country’s reliance on free zones, and the future of the UAE…
22 Oct 2019
Assessing Saudi Arabia’s Investment Landscape: What Investors Really Think
Saudi Arabia’s economic prospects are on a positive trajectory, but a number of leading investors are of the view that the market is missing the mark when it comes appraising the Kingdom’s ability to achieve its fiscal consolidation objectives or tackle emerging headwinds. Whilst significant reforms have opened the country to greater FDI and boosted investor confidence, concerns regarding the…
16 Oct 2019
On the Ground and Off the Record: GCC’s Credit Markets Brace for Global Macro Headwinds
Despite the challenges posed by falling revenues that have become endemic to oil-dependent Middle East economies as of late, the region’s finance markets have seen 2019 as a largely positive year. But the outlook is far less certain in 2020, according to a number of regional and international investors, bankers, advisors and corporate chiefs who spoke with Bonds & Loans on a recent research trip…
11 Oct 2019
SWOT Analysis: GCC Credit Markets in 60 Seconds
Bonds & Loans examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats across the GCC following a research trip to the region.
3 Oct 2019
Bahrain’s Mumtalakat CEO Eyes Global Investments with Positive Real Economic Impact
Known for a wide range of high-profile investments into companies like automotive heavyweight McLaren Group and metals giant Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Mumtalakat – Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund – is doubling down on its search for investment opportunities that have a lasting positive impact on the real economy. Several months after it issued a debut sukuk and ahead of its 15-year anniversary,…
4 Sept 2019
Turkish Banking Sector Remains Resilient Despite Ongoing Volatility
With GDP growth set to deteriorate and political volatility ever-present, the banking sector still remains exposed to weakening asset quality and currency fluctuations. However, key metrics indicate that, short of a period of severe and prolonged market stress, the banking sector will be able to ride out the next storm.
16 Aug 2019
GCC Corporates Benefit from Asian Long Money
As rates continue to fall in many parts of Asia, investors have increasingly turned to emerging markets in their hunt for yield. But given their generally cautious and conservative approach to investment, many have favoured so-called ‘safe emerging markets’. Now, as growth begins to soften in China, a growing number are turning their attention to the GCC’s corporate credit market to find secure,…
9 Aug 2019
The Case for Diversification: Why CFOs Shouldn’t Wait for the Next Liquidity Crisis to Act
In the face of relatively abundant banking sector liquidity and stabilising oil prices, CFOs and treasurers have rightly questioned the need to shift their funding focus away from the region’s deep-pocketed lenders. With the global growth outlook looking more uncertain, new trade wars becoming a near daily feature of the global policy discussion, and in light of recent moves to bolster the…
2 Aug 2019
Majid Al Futtaim’s Treasury Head on Why Going Green is About More than Just Marketing
UAE-based lifestyle conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim broke new ground earlier this year when the company placed the world’s first benchmark-sized corporate green sukuk. Bonds & Loans spoke with John Arentz, Head of Treasury at Majid Al Futtaim, about the company’s green capital markets debut, the strategy underpinning the transaction, and why – green bond or not – treasurers need to bolster their…
26 Jul 2019
Borusan EnBW Enerji CFO: Renewables Largely Unscathed by Recent Downturn in Turkey
After a slide on the lira in August 2018, followed by creeping inflation, Turkish corporates have had a rough year. One sector that has rode out the storm unscathed however, has been renewable energy developers. Bonds & Loans speaks with Hakan Aras, Chief Financial Officer for Borusan EnBW Enerji about ECA financing, Chinese investment and the company’s expansion plans.
18 Jul 2019