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Another star of the Gulf’s credit-fuelled boom years, Gulf Finance House (GFH) has reached agreement with creditors to restructure its debt but has been further downgraded by ratings agencies.

Former head of Abu Dhabi’s Hydra Properties Sulaiman Al-Fahim has provided the western media with a bounty of stories over the past two years, but has been in even deeper trouble back home. In December, a Dubai court issued an irrevocable ruling against Al-Fahim and other defendants and ordered them to pay more than Dh8m ($2.1m) plus interest to an Azeri businessman over a property dispute – in another case that has highlighted the pitfalls of doing business in a region where transparency has its limits.

It would be hard to tell there was a Dubai financial crisis, with the UAE’s bank reporting season in full swing. On the face of it, results so far suggest there is better news coming out of Dubai than Abu Dhabi, but consideration of UAE financial risk may be better based on transparency rather than good news

Lawyers for businessman Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Suwaidi have said that his case against Gulf Finance House chairman Essam Janahi will be heard by Bahrain’s Court of Cassation. The case has already been rejected by Bahrain’s Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal.

Trade finance and insurance trends are changing as a result of the emergence in 2009 of major debt events in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. Bankers and insurers have increasingly cited a moral hazard in dealing with trade finance risks in the GCC, and one year after the global downturn derailed Dubai’s explosive growth, its largest corporate entity, the state-owned Dubai World, announced in November that it was suspending payments on some $26bn of its $59bn or so of outstanding obligations.

In the run up to announcing that Sanaa would negotiate a new agreement, the International Monetary Fund, on 8 January announced the conclusion of its 2009 Article IV Consultation with Yemen

Dubai has established five new committees in an effort to climb out of its financial crisis. The committees are headed by conservative Dubai figures, underlining the emirate’s perception that appointing establishment figures to key jobs will help restore international confidence.

Thousands of investors have been swindled out of OR88m ($220m), the Omani prosecutor’s office said on 27 January. “So far, as many as 3,254 people fell prey to the swindlers and the total amount swindled by the cheats so far stands at OR88.4m,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

Qatar is interested in buying minority stakes in state oil company Petrobras and in a major financial institution, Banco do Brasil

The United States has launched a national security investigation into the proposed sale of a stake in Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic

As lenders decide whether to approve Dubai World’s $26bn debt standstill request, many questions remain – not least over other entities, the legal case and wider impact on the region

Many critical questions remain to be answered as the Dubai crisis unfolds

The financial crisis is likely to provide a bonanza for accountants, lawyers and other professional services companies, and several groups of creditors have begun to organise. The Financial Times reported that one group includes HSBC, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and local banks, who have formed a steering committee and were preparing to meet Dubai World representatives.

The extent of local banks' exposure to Dubai World remains unclear - and evaluating lenders' exposure is difficult since secondary market trades can reduce or increase an original lender's exposure, while new lenders can enter the market.

Markets quaked following the ‘bombshell news’ that $26bn of Dubai World’s debt had been put on standstill. Dubai, the UAE authorities and some western commentators reverted to their default position, arguing that markets over-reacted and that all was really very well, but the default may have revealed only the tip of an iceberg that hides more over-leveraged government-related entities with poor investment strategies, faulty business models and weak management