By Andrei Skvarsky. Abu Dhabi has launched an initiative to simplify its registration rules for expat businesses by replacing the current range of licence types with a single standard type, the Unified Economic Licence, in a measure seen as instrumental for the emirate’s free zones. Abu Dhabi’s five free zones, which represent a variety of… Continue Reading
J.P. Morgan’s Liink system to be used by Australia’s CBA to test anti-scam tech
By Andrei Skvarsky. Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA or CommBank) has announced it will test an anti-scam and mistake-proofing technology internationally in a pilot project via Liink, a blockchain-based system developed by J.P. Morgan, after the domestic use of the tech helped save “millions of dollars” for CBA clients. Liink is a global network for private… Continue Reading
ANZ warns of payment scams after Australians lost nearly $100m in 2023
By Andrei Skvarsky. Australia’s ANZ bank issued a warning last week about so-called payment redirection scams, a form of fraud that has cost Australians tens of millions of dollars lost to computer hackers who rerouted the money via fake bills. In 2023 Australians had AU$91.6m (equivalent to the amount in U.S. dollars that year) stolen… Continue Reading
Australia’s ANZ selling remaining stake in Malaysia’s AmBank
By Andrei Skvarsky. ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks, has agreed to sell its remaining 5.2 per cent stake in AmBank, one of the biggest lenders in Malaysia. ANZ would be paid 4.10 Malaysian ringgit ($0.87) per share in the deal, the Australian bank said in a statement. The upcoming sale, to be completed on… Continue Reading
Fitch ups major Australian banks’ ratings in evaluating capacity to deal with default risks
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fitch Ratings has given Australia’s five largest banks rating upgrades in assessing their capacity to keep their senior creditors protected if the lenders defaulted on their debt. The long-term issuer default rating (IDR) was raised by one notch for each of the five banks – to A+ for Macquarie Bank and to… Continue Reading
Dubai gets nearly $10bn as FDI in 2023
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai received $9.77bn in 2023 as foreign direct investment (FDI), the emirate’s Department of Economy and Tourism said. The United States was the source of the largest single proportion – one-fifth – of the amount. British investments made up the second-biggest share, about 9 per cent. India was third with an input of… Continue Reading
Macquarie Capital hires ex-Credit Suisse, ex-UBS banker as head of greater China
Macquarie Capital, the advisory and investing arm of financial services group Macquarie, has hired Honggui Li, a former banker at Credit Suisse and UBS, as head of greater China. Li has almost 25 years’ experience of business in greater China, according to a statement from Macquarie, a company headquartered in Sydney. He was head of… Continue Reading
Macquarie launches active large-growth ETF on NYSE Arca
By Andrei Skvarsky. Macquarie, a global financial services group, has launched an active large-growth exchange-traded fund (ETF), which began trading on the NYSE Arca exchange in New York on May 15. The Macquarie Focused Large Growth ETF (LRGG ETF) is the fourth active ETF of Macquarie Asset Management, a division of the Sydney-headquartered group. The… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit reports two senior departures
By Andrei Skvarsky. Liechtenstein-based financial boutique The Trading Pit, which is part of Estonian private equity fintech Pinorena Capital and specialises in proprietary trading (investing its own capital rather that living off client commissions or fees), has announced top-tier staff departures. Thomas Heyden has resigned as chief executive of The Trading Pit’s Liechtenstein division and… Continue Reading
Janus Henderson buying out Europe-focused ETF provider Tabula
By Andrei Skvarsky. Global asset manager Janus Henderson will acquire Europe-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider Tabula Investment Management, the two companies have announced. Tabula’s arm Tabula Capital is not part of the buyout and will remain a separate entity, Tabula and Janus Henderson said in a joint statement. Janus Henderson expects that, owing to the… Continue Reading
Routing FDI into UK through Guernsey could reverse downward trend – financier
By Andrei Skvarsky. A “unique” relationship to the United Kingdom makes Guernsey, a UK dependency and an international financial centre, an effective channel for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK, which is “ever more vital” for its economy but declining, according to a Guernsey-based financier. Guernsey “channels investment into the UK that other international… Continue Reading
AI-powered investment fund launched by UK’s Sanctum
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sanctum, an investment company headquartered in London, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered investment fund. The Financial Science Holdings Limited (FSHL) fund, which is based in Britain’s dependency of Guernsey, uses an algorithmic engine to select undervalued but potentially profitable securities by going through a wide range of data, Guernsey Finance, a British… Continue Reading
Permira fund to acquire majority stake in anti-fraud firm BioCatch
By Andrei Skvarsky. One of the funds of global private equity firm Permira has pledged to acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, an Israeli digital fraud and money laundering detection company credited with having saved banks and bank customers from losses exceeding $3.5bn. The size of the stake has not been disclosed. The bulk of… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered joins Visa payment shortcuts network
By Andrei Skvarsky. Standard Chartered has joined Visa B2B Connect, a cross-border payments network for businesses that the Visa corporation, which runs the system, says can cut settlement times to one or two days from “potentially weeks”. So far Standard Chartered Singapore is the only division of the London-based bank to have joined Visa B2B… Continue Reading
Sub-Saharan Africa home to 75 pct of world’s mobile payment app accounts – GSMA
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost three-quarters of the world’s mobile payment application accounts, the GSMA, a global association of mobile operators and mobile-related businesses said. Between 2013 and 2022, payments via mobile apps brought about an increase of more than $150bn or 3.7 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa’s combined gross domestic… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered unit makes ‘strategic’ investment in sharia-compliant fintech
By Andrei Skvarsky. Multinational bank Standard Chartered’s innovation-focused investment unit SC Ventures has made what it called a “strategic” investment in British sharia-compliant financial technology company Algbra. Statements from SC Ventures and Algbra that announced the investment did not provide any details or disclose the terms of the deal. But both statements quoted Algbra chief… Continue Reading
IBKR brokerage to open office in Dubai
By Andrei Skvarsky. U.S.-based electronic financial brokerage Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is planning to open an office in Dubai in a bid to expand its global network to the Middle East, Abu Dhabi-based English-language daily The National said, citing an IBKR spokesperson. The National also quoted an independent source as saying, with reference to an email… Continue Reading
Saudi banks’ net foreign assets at $15.84bn by February – central bank
By Andrei Skvarsky. The net foreign assets of Saudi Arabia’s commercial banks stood at 59.41bn riyals ($15.84bn) by February 2024, a Saudi newspaper said on April 11, citing the country’s central bank (SAMA). The Saudi banks’ gross foreign assets grew 22 per cent year on year by February, reaching $92.7bn, but their foreign liabilities rocketed… Continue Reading
Key global banks among arrangers of $1.16bn Africa loan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Société Générale, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporaton (SMBC) were among banks that have arranged a $1.16bn syndicated loan for Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in a United Arab Emirates project aiming to give a boost to African economies. The total amount to be raised was initially set at $1bn but was… Continue Reading
Uzum becomes Uzbekistan’s first tech start-up valued at over $1bn
By Andrei Skvarsky. Uzum, an Uzbek provider of digital services including e-commerce and online banking, has become Uzbekistan’s first technology start-up with a value of more than $1bn through a recent round of financing. Uzum raised $114m in a combination of Series A funding, which was led by Bengaluru-based venture capital firm FinSight Ventures, and… Continue Reading
Arab Energy Fund reports highest annual income in half-century existence
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF), an energy-focused financial services company formerly known as APICORP, has reported that in 2023 it earned what has been its highest net annual income in its half-century existence, $225m. The amount was 51 per cent up on 2022, the Riyadh-headquartered multinational company, which follows environmental, social and… Continue Reading
Dubai police make two arrests in $49,000 burglary probe – Khaleej Times
By Andrei Skvarsky. Two suspected burglars accused of stealing valuables to a total of 180,000 Emirati dirhams ($49,000) from the house of an expat couple in a Dubai community were arrested hard on the heels of the crime, according to a Dubai-based newspaper. The couple were away on holiday when their villa in a non-gated… Continue Reading
UAE’s United Arab Bank reports 65 pct. net profit growth for 2023
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United Arab Emirates’ United Arab Bank (UAB) has reported a net profit increase of 65 per cent for 2023. UAB’s net profit for the year was 255m dirhams ($69.52m). Its total income for 2023 was 576m dirhams ($156.84m) or 15 per cent up on 2022 and its investments portfolio grew by… Continue Reading
Dubai hosts outsourcing event for Uzbekistan
DUBAI, UAE, February 16, 2024 (IT Park, Uzbekistan) – On February 15th, the Uzbekistan Outsourcing Conference in Dubai was held with great success, organized by the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and IT Park. The event proved to be a significant gathering, hosting over 100 leading experts and members of the… Continue Reading
Optima compliance advisory firm hires ex-SEC official Michele Foldenauer as a director
By Andrei Skvarsky. Financial regulatory compliance advisory firm Optima Partners has hired Michele Foldenauer, a former senior official at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as a director. Foldenauer will focus on hedge funds, private equity funds, investment advisers, broker-dealers and global financial services firms, corporate communication company PRNewswire cited Optima as saying. Immediately… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: U.S. economy slowdown, $80 oil, more expensive gold likely 2024 highlights
An economic slowdown in the United States with potential depreciation of the dollar, a generally stable oil price of around $80 a barrel and higher gold prices are among global economic highlights predicted by the ActivTrades brokerage for 2024. Falling inflation in the United States, which plunged to 3.4 per cent by the end of… Continue Reading
Renaissance Capital foresees 1pc growth for Russian economy in ’24
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital forecasts 1 per cent growth for the Russian economy in 2024, relative near-term stability for the rouble and the reduction of a prohibitive key interest rate this year but argues that inflation tops Russia’s macroeconomic agenda. In 2023, Russia’s economy grew by 3.2 per cent, RenCap estimates.… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit hires Hakam Thalji as head of dealing
Multi-asset proprietary trading firm The Trading Pit has hired Hakam Thalji as head of dealing in the risk department. Thalji has had a financial markets career of more than 20 years, the firm, which is based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, said in a statement without naming any of his previous jobs. Continue Reading
Gate.io-Aquanow deal to facilitate ‘access to crypto markets’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Gate.io, one of world’s top-ranking cryptocurrency exchanges, has entered into a partnership with digital assets infrastructure provider Aquanow with the aim of building up liquidity in global crypto markets in anticipation of new blockchain projects. The deal “will help increase access to crypto markets”, a statement from Aquanow quoted the company’s chief… Continue Reading