DUBAI / Emirates Business Mashreq Bank, one of the UAE’s leading financial institutions, hosted the first VAT awareness seminar for its SME clients in collaboration with Morison MJS Tax Consultancy. With The UAE set to introduce VAT starting January 1, 2018, Mashreq launched a VAT awareness campaign on educating SME customers on how VAT will affect their businesses. This campaign …

Bloomberg The research arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to use blockchain technology to develop sharia-compliant products, aiming to support financial inclusion efforts across its member countries. The Jeddah-based Islamic Research and Training Institute said it had signed an agreement with local firm Ateon and Belgium-based SettleMint, with the first stage to focus on a technical feasibility study. …

DUBAI / Reuters Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest lender by assets, reported a 12.7 percent rise in third-quarter net profit on Sunday, in line with analysts’ forecasts. The bank made 2.27 billion riyals ($605.3 million) in the three months to September 30, up from 2.01 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse …