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GCC policy-makers are taking decisive steps to shore up confidence, as local markets suffer from global financial meltdown, tumbling oil prices and wavering enthusiasm. In articles below, GSN talks to key GCC and international players about the regional impacts of a global crisis. Troubled institutions can expect support, but US banks

As the crisis spreads, sovereign wealth funds are being called on to help rescue ailing institutions abroad and at home. Many have already done so: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) invested in Citibank last year, followed by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which invested $5bn in Citi and Merrill Lynch. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has invested in

Egypt’s Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali has been selected as the new chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), which sets the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) political direction and overall policy priorities. The chairmanship lasts for a term of up to three years.

Recent data from the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund shows that Arab stock markets lost some $158bn in September, with the GCC’s bourses taking the brunt of the loss. A new Standard & Poor’s (S&P) report argues that the tightening in liquidity conditions in the UAE is only tangentially related to the global credit crunch and is being driven mainly by a host of country-specific factors.

Iran's use of financial institutions in the GCC and Europe to bypass sanctions remains at the centre of concern for the US Treasury's counter-terrorist financing unit.

Iran is being reviewed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global, inter-governmental body that develops counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and anti-money laundering (AML) policies, as a result of what it says is Iran's failure to comply with international standards of AML/CTF.

The real estate sector has been hit hard by the cut backs in lending but demand for new projects remains strong.

QIA sticks with London real estate but spurns Wall Street

Family business relationships will be key to the growth of Samena Capital, the latest investment company to set up in Bahrain. Bringing together businessmen and former asset managers from the (Indian) Subcontinent, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (Samena), a new asset management company set up in Bahrain, has attracted particular interest from Omani investors.

Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas investment arm is talking tough as it seeks to exponentially increase its already substantial portfolio with acquisitions at home and abroad. International Petroleum Investment Company is showing itself to be a tough negotiator in its talks with Spain’s Banco Santander

A growing international underwriting presence in Dubai, Qatar and other GCC countries has begun to transform the Middle East insurance market, participants told GSN. Credit crunch jitters are starting to affect the region, but there remains huge potential in several financial sectors, including the Gulf insurance market.

Turbulent times push everyone to buck up their thinking – and in this respect, Gulf Co-operation Council governments are no different from their international counterparts. Soaring oil revenues may provide Arabian states with a wealth cushion against global volatility; but an economic storm

Dubai provides the widest range of requests for trade and project risk insurance within the GCC markets, while Saudi Arabia provides underwriters with the largest volumes of political risk insurance (PRI) exposure, according to London-based insurer Aspen Insurance UK,

Spanish sporting giant Real Madrid (RM)’s president Ramon Calderón has been in talks with Ajman Crown Prince Sheikh Ammar Bin Humaid Al-Nuaimi with the idea of training talented young Emirati footballers in Spain, as well as opening RM football schools in the UAE.

Following on plans to establish an investment fund with Indonesia (GSN 835/15), Qatar and Vietnam have announced a $1bn fund to invest in various sectors including agriculture. According to Vietnamese ambassador Phung The Long, Qatar Investment Authority will provide 90% of the fund’s equity. “We have exchanged