King Hamad’s administration is seeking to portray the island kingdom as committed to reform despite growing sectarianism and opposition complaints about transparency shortfalls
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Specialist Lloyd’s of London insurer Hardy Underwriting has entered into a joint venture with Arab Insurance Group (Arig) to develop reinsurance business in the Middle East and North Africa.
The mainstream Shia parliamentary opposition appears to have become sidetracked by marginal and sectarian issues, and is now caught between a tactically astute government and vigorous rivals
Banks risky but Qatar does well, says study, Batelco fined by regulator for sector monopoly, Al-Bazie appointed deputy finance minister, €1bn sukuk delayed, Warba Bank approval, BD50m investment in IWPP
Several Gulfis were among the latest batch of officers to pass out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Bahraini graduates included
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) navies are rapidly building up powerful fleets of muscular corvettes and multi-role offshore patrol vessels, making it likely that nations such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman will soon boast the most advanced surface combatants in the region.
A conservative member of the National Assembly, Jassim Al-Saidi, has accused Shia opposition party Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society of meddling in internal Yemeni affairs.
The clarity of GCC legal systems and their treatment of foreign creditors have fallen under the spotlight as two debt-laden Saudi conglomerates troubles’ percolate through into the wider trade finance and insurance communities
Lawsuits and rating downgrades have set three significant Gulf business families – Saudi Arabia’s Al-Gosaibis, Al-Saneas and the UAE’s Al-Ghurairs – against each other (GSN 855/13). Recently, the Dubai-based, Al-Ghurair-owned Mashreq Bank filed lawsuits in New York against AHAB and its subsidiary TIBC involving a failed $75m currency exchange.
The credit shadows that have fallen over the Middle East in 2009 are afflicting some of the official export credit agencies (ECAs) based in the region and further afield. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have moved to the centre of ECA scanners in the past couple of months, but it is the UAE that most preoccupies official insurers, GSN was told in a survey of regional and international market sentiment.
Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa in July wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for Arab leaders to talk to Israeli media.
International law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised Capinnova Investment Bank on a $20m investment in a new retail construction project in Bahrain.
Dealing with a growing number of returned prisoners from Guantanamo Bay is burdening an already complex process of putting terror suspects on trial, testing relationships between states and exacerbating sectarian rifts
Like Yemen, the militant threat in Bahrain is intimately linked to Saudi Arabia. This was underlined by recent attempts to secure the extradition of three Bahrainis being held in Saudi Arabia on terrorism charges. Bahrain’s Al-Adala group (National Justice Movement) and National Detainees Committee are demanding the release of the men. The first is Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Majid Al-Naimi, who was detained by Saudi police at the King Fahd causeway on 10 October; he is one of six Bahrainis detained at Guantanamo, a surprisingly high number given Bahrain’s tiny population.
