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In a move to increase pressure on Tehran, the British government has followed US moves by banning all UK-based companies from entering into or continuing any transactions or business relationships with Bank Mellat,

Following on from the November 2012 news that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was investigating whether Barclays had made improper payments to win a banking licence in Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times (FT) has revealed that the DoJ is now investigating two transactions that may connect Barclays to King Abdullah’s powerful son Turki, the recently appointed Riyadh deputy governor. In August 2009, Barclays was awarded an investment banking licence by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to operate locally as Barclays Saudi Arabia; the DoJ was to look at whether the bank may have contravened the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in obtaining it. Barclays said last November that it did not make any illegal payment to the CMA or its officials. The CMA also said it was not aware of any investigations.

Authorities across the UAE are continuing to look for ways to boost economic activity, amid signs of weak performance in key areas. This is despite a number of efforts to inject more life into the non-oil economy by slashing fees for businesses at both federal and emirate level.Ras Al-Khaimah has become the latest to join that trend, when RAK Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi announced on 4 December that 272 businesses would be exempt from 50% of the cost of any renewal fees or fines imposed by any local department in the emirate.

Oman has emerged relatively unscathed from its spring protests, with major projects continuing to take shape as the political and risk environments have restabilised

Qatar has agreed to convert a $2bn deposit with Egypt’s central bank into bonds, according to Central Bank of Egypt governor Hisham Ramez. The conversion was recently reported to be on the rocks when a central bank source was widely quoted as saying Egypt was prepared to repay the money within days if negotiations failed. But on 9 September, Egyptian newspapers quoted Ramez as saying it would go ahead, though it was not clear on what terms.

Etihad Airways has named Irishman Ray Gammell as interim group chief executive from 1 July, taking over from James Hogan who resigned in January (GSN 1,030/9). Etihad is in the middle of an operational review which could see it ditch its strategy of taking minority stakes in struggling airlines. Further doubts have been cast on the strategy following the news in late April that Italy’s Alitalia – in which Etihad has a 49% stake – is to enter administration.

Iraq’s parliament approved a 2015 budget worth ID119trn ($105bn) on 29 January, predicting an ID25trn deficit, after revising down the expected price of oil to $56/bbl from $70/bbl in a previous draft. The passing of the budget represents a significant success for Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, not least because it seals an agreement between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad over how to export oil and share revenues, at least in the immediate future.

Qatar has reportedly pledged $5 million to the Gaza government to support reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. On 4 May, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency quoted Ismail Radwan, the Gaza government’s minister of endowment, as saying the money was to support “community reconciliation”, especially focused on families who have lost relatives to the Fatah-Hamas conflict. The Qatar News Agency made no mention of the donation, which was reported on the same day as Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the emiri diwan in Doha.

UK bank Barclays plans to leave the UAE’s rate-setting Emirates Interbank Offered Rate (Eibor) panel because of its involvement in the UK Libor scandal.

Insurers’ perceptions of Saudi credit risk is improving. According to Euler Hermes’ Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) risk management director Mahan Bolourchi, “there has been a positive change in our perception of the risks.

GSN was recently shown an email from a Gulf-based international law firm touting for business on the back of the UK Bribery Act 2010, which will be implemented on 1 July.

Gulf elites have so far escaped fairly lightly from the latest deluge of compromising documents from an offshore law firm. Among the few Gulf names included in the ‘Paradise Papers’ details released to date are Saudi ex-deputy defence minister Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdelaziz and Iraqi politician Mudhar Shawkat.The Paradise Papers leaked from Appleby – which has offices in Bermuda and a string of other offshore jurisdictions – includes 13.4m files showing the interests and activities of more than 120 politicians and world leaders and 100-plus multinationals.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has revised down the outlook for Ras Al-Khaimah to negative from stable, due to institutional weakness. In a statement on 9 May, S&P said it affirmed its A/A-1 long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings, seeing the emirate’s fiscal risks as limited given the strong government balance sheet, ongoing indirect financial support from the UAE and the government’s minimal spending responsibilities. But it viewed the “underdeveloped government institutions and the availability and timeliness of economic and demographic data” as weaknesses

The man supposed to take over as chief executive at the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (Rakbank) has reportedly quit, not long after the bank was the victim of a massive global bank card fraud. News agency Reuters quoted two sources within the bank as saying Ian Larkin – who was to take over from outgoing chief executive Graham Honeybill in July – left just six weeks after arriving at the bank.

For all their power and wealth, few among the Saudi merchant class attained the level of fame of Khalid Bin Mahfouz