Middle East

Striving to shake its oil dependence, Kuwait is opening up to foreign ownership. Will investors bite?

From financial services to healthcare to tourism, the Emirates is exploring and expanding into new non-oil businesses.

Sparkling office towers won’t draw business without the right policies.

These are exciting times for the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as the decline in oil revenues is forcing them to finally make dramatic changes to their oil-based economies.

Noor Bank focuses on select business segments and eyes the digital payment space that will offer some of the best opportunities over the next couple of years.

Retail demand for Islamic finance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the wider region keeps increasing.  Growth areas include structured hedging and investment products, project and aviation finance, equity-linked and greenfield project sukuk.

Global Finance magazine profiles the best Islamic Financial Institutions of 2016

QIB controls 43.5% of the Islamic banking market share in Qatar and 11.5% of the overall market and says that the long-term growth prospects remain promising.

Still finding its way onto the broader global stage, Islamic finance is expanding its reach and rising to new heights in delivering added value to consumer and business markets alike.

Saudi Arabia
Known as the Minister of Everything, deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, the favored 30-year-old son of the geriatric king of Saudi Arabia, is a man on a mission.

We present a rare tour of the newly opened Iranian banking sector.  Westerners will be surprised by what they find—in both philosophy and performance—in this long-hidden area of the banking world.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is learning to speak Arabic.

Low oil prices are taking a heavy toll on Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is facing even greater austerity under deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud’s plans to raise $100 billion a year from subsidy cuts and new levies.

Despite tightening liquidity in the Gulf banking sector, Bahrain’s largest lender reported robust profits in 2015. After leading a slew of product launches, AUB’s group CEO and managing director believes the bank’s prudent risk management will underpin its expansion. He spoke to Global Finance at the bank’s headquarters in Bahrain.

By any measure QNB has major ambitions. It is the largest bank in Qatar and one of the leading financial institutions in the Middle East and Africa. It does not stop there. QNB has set its sights on becoming a global bank by 2030. QNB’s group chief executive discusses with Global Finance the regional downturn, success in Africa and its plans for a global presence.

Global Finance’s list of Who’s Who in Middle Eastern finance         

There are big changes at the top of the rankings this year, and there is greater geographical diversity in the list. Companies in the region are dealing with a number of serious headwinds and broader economic and market changes, which are starting to take their toll. 

The Middle East is no stranger to political and economic uncertainty, but simmering religious and political tensions and stubbornly low oil prices have dealt the region a difficult hand. The question now is: How will countries play in order to win? 

Changing fortunes in the region’s oil-rich economies have made the secretive world of sovereign wealth fund asset allocation even more opaque. 

The Middle East is characterized by high youth unemployment and political and economic uncertainty, but new business and technology start-ups and young entrepreneurs are providing hope for future generations.