May, 2016

• 17 May

  Construction boom boosts region’s fit-out industry

  

    Alkesh Sharma / Emirates Business Fuelled by a booming construction sector, the GCC region’s interior and fit-out contracting industry is expected to grow by nearly 20 percent and the market expected to cross the whopping mark of $12.5 billion by the end of 2017. UAE is clearly spearheading this market in the region and is expected to add more …

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• 17 May

  Dubai SME launches report on state of equity investment

  

    Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has launched a report on the ‘State of SME Equity Investment in Dubai,’ the first initiative of its kind in the Gulf region, to encourage investment in the sector and attract direct …

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• 17 May

  Smart Dubai Office looks into key modules for ‘smartest city on earth’

  

      Dubai / Emirates Business A delegation from Smart Dubai Office (SDO) led by H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of SDO, is exerting more efforts to form business partnership by showcasing its smart transformation roadmap to the founding strategic partners of the smart city transformation process. The delegation visited Dubai Land Department (DLD) to discuss …

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• 17 May

  UAE Telecoms, Media & Technology to be ME hotspot in 2016

  

    Dubai / Emirates Business Mergermarket, the world’s leading news and intelligence service for mergers & acquisitions, has released its Global M&A Heat Chart that indicates potential future M&A activity based on companies that may be targeted for mergers or acquisitions. The Heat Chart suggests that the Middle East’s Telecoms, Media & Technology (TMT) sector could see the strongest levels …

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• 17 May

  Saudi’s largest lender to expand global footprint

  

    Reuters Saudi Arabia’s largest lender by assets, National Commercial Bank (NCB), plans to expand overseas, growing its Turkey franchise while exploring new markets including Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt, its chairman said. The move could break the mould of the kingdom’s banking sector, which hosts a range of large and well-capitalised financial institutions but which have traditionally focused on serving …

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• 17 May

  ANZ to cut Aussie jobs amid sluggish loan surge

  

    Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group Ltd. is getting rid of about 200 jobs in its Australian unit as lending growth slows in a subdued economy. The reductions will be largely in Melbourne and affect managerial and back-office roles in areas such as marketing and project management, Melbourne-based spokesman Stephen Ries said in an e-mail on Tuesday. …

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• 17 May

  1MDB-dealings; BSI to probe bank employees

  

    REUTERS BSI SA, the Swiss bank embroiled in global probes into 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (MDB), is investigating employees and their dealings related to the embattled Malaysian state investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter. One of the employees the private bank is investigating in Singapore is Kevin Swampillai, the manager of the first banker to be charged …

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• 17 May

  Egypt top bank sells $169mn special certificates to woo foreign currency

  

    Cairo / Reuters National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest state bank, sold 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($169 million) worth of special certificates that were launched in March to attract foreign currency into the banking system, its deputy chairman said. NBE was one of three state banks to launch the certificates on March 14, the day Egypt’s central …

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• 17 May

  1,800 jobs shed as BPM, Banco Popolare merge

  Milan / AFP Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) said they would shed seven percent of their 25,000 staff as they merge to create Italy’s third-largest bank by assets. The 1,800 jobs are to be cut via voluntary departures, and 800 other employees will be reassigned to other jobs. The number of branches will be cut by 14 percent …

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• 17 May

  PBOC gears up as China revamps regulation

  

    Tokyo / AFP As China’s leaders consider ways to improve market oversight and avoid the kind of boom and bust in equities that shook investors around the world last year, the nation’s central bank is already extending its oversight to areas beyond its traditional focus. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) this month expanded its powers to cap cross-border capital …

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