JEDDAH / Emirates Business Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets Investment Bank, said in a strategy note issued ahead of Jeddah Economic Forum to be held on March 1-3 that Saudi Arabia’s plans to implement wide-ranging institutional changes to put its fiscal policy on a sustainable footing would give an unprecedented impetus to public-privatepartnerships’(PPPs) in the country. History suggests that …

BLOOMBERG NorthStar Realty Finance Corp., a U.S. mortgage real estate investment trust, hired a division of UBS Group AG to advise on a potential recombination with NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc., the company from which it was spun off in 2014. The REIT’s board formed a special committee that will be composed of independent directors who aren’t also on the …

Doha / Emirates Business Tightening its grip on engineering consultancies, the government has cancelled the licences of at least nine errant firms and detected 87 violations this year. The punished firms include A grade consultancies. There are still some consultancies with engineers not registered with authorities. A committee at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment licenses engineers and engineering consultancies. …