Parkin to give more shares to retail investors in its IPO
Dubai, UAE - Parkin Company on Tuesday announced an increase in the number of shares offered in the UAE Retail...Business
SCA to waive off registration fee for listing of green bonds, sukuk in local market
Abu Dhabi, UAE--The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) board of birectors has approved a proposal to exempt companies wishing to...The SCA's decision corresponds with the UAE's agenda to achieve the objectives of sustainable development in relation to economic growth
Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry, said the world as a whole needs to do more to advance sustainability in the financial space
UAE, Egypt sign US$10bn deal to build Africa’s biggest wind farm
A consortium of companies, Masdar, Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities have signed an agreement with Egypt to build a...The wind farm will enable Egypt meet its strategic objective of sourcing 42 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030
The project will help Egypt bring down annual carbon emissions by 9 percent, displacing 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually
Gulf banks witness continued growth in lending activities
The first quarter of 2023 experienced a surge in credit demand, except for a slight dip in Qatar. The latest...GCC banks witness a 3.2% increase in aggregate gross loans, reaching a record of $1.87 trillion, while NPL ratios improve, with the average ratio decreasing to 2.3%
Due to the expansion of the banking business and government support, the UAE has the highest NPL ratio, while Saudi Arabian banks exhibit the highest q-o-q growth
China firms under sanction by US for assisting Iran missile program
WASHINGTON, US- The United States placed sanctions on Tuesday on several Chinese and Hong Kong firms it said were supplying Iran's...The US Treasury said the Chinese companies shipped centrifuges for producing fuels, non-ferrous metals with potential military use.
Washington is concerned that Iran plans to develop nuclear weapons that could be loaded on ballistic missiles to menace Israel.
Bybit partners with Sharjah varsity to boost crypto adoption in UAE
Sharjah, UAE - Bybit, the world’s third most visited crypto exchange, will contribute AED 1 million ($272,257) via a partnership...A Bybit contribution of $2,72,257 marks the first collaboration between American University of Sharjah and the crypto exchange.
Eligible computer science and computer engineering students will benefit from the Bybit Scholarship as soon as this fall.
World Bank lowers MENA’s growth forecast to 2.2 percent in 2023
DUBAI, UAE - The World Bank raised its global growth forecast for 2023 to 2.1 percent (in June 2023) from...The World Bank expects global growth to reach 2.4 percent in 2024, compared to 2.7 percent in January 2023.
The possibility of widespread banking disruptions and tighter monetary policy may also lead to weaker global growth.
Foreign non-institutional investors’ ownership in Saudi equities up
Dubai, UAE -- Non-institutional foreign investors increased their ownership in Tadawul-listed equities, excluding Saudi Aramco, to SAR 310.80 billion ($82.87...The ownership of non-institutional foreign investors is represented by swap agreements, residents, and qualified foreign investors (QFIs).
Foreign investors’ ownership, including strategic partners, in Saudi equities, excluding Saudi Aramco, fell from 12.19 percent to 12.17 percent, or SAR 356.96 billion, for the week
US SEC sues cryptocurrency platform Coinbase
NEW YORK, US - US securities regulators sued Coinbase on Tuesday, alleging that the cryptocurrency platform's failure to register as a securities..."Since at least 2019, Coinbase has made billions of dollars unlawfully facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities," said the SEC.
SEC said Coinbase's failure to register "has deprived investors of significant protections, including inspection, record-keeping requirements."
Top 10 Saudi banks experience slow profit growth in Q1
Despite improvement in cost-to-income ratio, net profit sees only a marginal rise of 2.7% QoQ to $4.61bn due to slower...Return on equity declined by 67 bps QoQ to 15.2%, while return on assets (RoA) remained stable at 2%. Total operating income saw a modest increase of 4.1% QoQ
Asad Ahmed, A&M Managing Director and Head of Middle East Financial Services, said, “We consider the Saudi banks’ capital position to be strong.”
Saudi Arabia’s RVCMC to hold biggest carbon credit auction in Nairobi
The event on Jun 14 aims to sell more than 2 million tons of high-quality CORSIA carbon credits registered with...An auction held by RVCMC last year at Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh was then the largest-ever auction with 1.4 million tons of carbon credits sold.
RVCMC was established by PIF and Tadawul Group to help MENA businesses play their role in the global transition to zero neutrality.
