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An attempt by a Dubai-based British property developer to claim $2bn in damages from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has failed in the UK High Court. Plantation Holdings won the main legal points over which it had sued DIB, but secured only nominal damages and was required to pay costs. Judge Mr Justice Pickens agreed that DIB had unlawfully broken its contract with Plantation in April 2008, but said the developer had not suffered any recoverable loss.

With insurgency adding to an an unstable economic backdrop, Iraq has mustered a potentially important new line of export credit support from the UK, which has agreed to examine up to £1bn ($1.28bn)/yr of support for infrastructure projects over the next ten years. This will be provided through UK Export Finance (UKEF), under a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on 5 March. “UKEF and the government of Iraq are already exploring a number of projects for support under the MoU,” GSN was told by a source at the London-based export credit agency (ECA).

Iran has been hit by a series of setbacks in European courts over cases related to the sanctions imposed while it was pursuing its controversial nuclear programme. On 14 March, Bank Tejarat lost a long-running case at the General Court of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), where it argued against its designation under European sanctions. In January 2012 the bank had been added to a list of sanctioned entities by the European Council, on the basis it had facilitated the nuclear weapons programme and helped the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and other United Nations-designated entities to bypass sanctions.

The Equate joint venture – 42.5% held by each of state-owned Petrochemical Industries Company and US giant Dow Chemical, with the local Boubyan (9%) and Qurain (6%) – has raised $500m from a debut sukuk. The first Sharia-compliant bond issue to be approved by the Capital Market Authority under new legislation was seven times over- subscribed with an order book of $3.7bn. The seven-year issue matures in February 2024. Global co-ordinators were Citigroup, JPMorgan, HSBC, NBK Capital and KFH Capital. More borrowing is expected as Equate rolls out its development programme.

The European Commission (EC) is planning to publish new competition rules for the aviation sector in April, in a move which could open the way for fines on Middle East carriers and even, in extreme circumstances, bar them from Europe’s skies. In February, Reuters reported that the proposed new rules would allow the EC to impose duties on non-European Union (EU) airlines, or suspend their flying rights, if they are found to have benefitted from illegal government subsidies, favourable airport charges or other unfair business practices.

The Iraqi tax system’s complexities and inadequacies were subjected to the scrutiny of the UK courts in a judgement published on 17 February, which could result in the Egypt-based telecommunications group Global Telecom Holding (formerly Orascom) paying damages of $60m to Atheer Telecom Iraq, a subsidiary of Kuwait-based Zain Group. Atheer sued GTH subsidiary Orascom Telecom Iraq in the High Court of Justice in 2012, after receiving a multi-billion dinar tax bill from the Iraqi government following its purchase of the Iraqna mobile network from Orascom in 2007. The case was heard last November.

Who doesn’t like the plan, promoted by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), to list a small slice of Saudi Aramco? When it comes to Aramco, even a small slice (up to 5%) is a giant portion for global markets to consume. While still mainly owned by the Saudi state after the initial public offering (IPO), Aramco is expected to become the world’s most valuable listed company when it comes to market in 2018. Some of this will trickle down to potentially millions of smaller Saudi investors, and fire up a sovereign wealth fund that could be the motor for MBS’s much-vaunted Vision 2030 economic diversification.

US-based Bechtel has been awarded a contract to help set up and operate the National Project Management Organisation (NPMO), intended to support government agencies in delivering complex infrastructure projects. NPMO’s establishment is seen as a key part of efforts to boost the projects market’s efficiency. Two other US firms, Aecom and Parsons were shortlisted for the contract, according to Dubai-based projects tracker MEED.

Kuwait Airways staff staged a sit-in outside the company’s headquarters in Dajeej on 9 January, in protest at alleged plans to cut staff numbers and benefits. Among those present was MP Mohammed Al-Khodair and former employee Ahmed Al-Randi, who told the Kuwait Times that some retired members of staff had been deprived of rights such as annual free tickets.

Specialist projects tracker MEED Projects says the net value of projects underway around the region fell in 2016 by $61bn, the first time the figure has fallen since it began collecting data in 2004. While $105bn of contract awards were made in 2016, this was outweighed by the $166bn of contacts completed during the year. Almost all markets saw activity decline last year, with the one exception being Bahrain, the smallest market. Saudi Arabia performed worst, with a net loss of $30bn.

As competitive pressures mount up on a variety of fronts, it seems the days of relentless expansion may be coming to an end for several giants of Gulf – and global – aviation. On 18 December, Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad confirmed that it was “undertaking a process of managed, controlled restructuring”. This would involve a “measured reduction of headcount in some parts of the business” – thought to mean the loss of anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 jobs. Eithad has trimmed its route network over the past year, cutting the number of cities it serves from 116 to 112.

Judgement is expected in early 2017 in a $2bn case brought in the UK’s High Court against Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) by Plantation Holdings, a Dubai-based real estate company owned by British property developer Arthur Fitzwilliam. The hearings started in October and concluded in mid-December. If successful, the claim will embarrass DIB not just because of the heavy financial cost, but also because it would implicitly confirm damaging allegations that the bank used state power for business advantage.

The founder and chairman of Saudi Arabian conglomerate MBI International, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al-Jaber, is suing the chairman of Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), Sheikh Walid Bin Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, for $62.9m in the UK’s High Court. Al-Jaber claims that in January 2002 he loaned $30m to Al-Ibrahim and his brother Sheikh Majid to help them set up the Al-Arabiya news channel.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has been awarded £68.9m ($85.8m) in the High Court in London, in a case against BP plc that centred around money owed to the oil giant by troubled Moroccan oil refiner Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie de Raffinage (Samir) for a crude oil delivery agreement made in December 2013. In September 2014, BP sold the debt on to NBAD, but Samir then entered into insolvency proceedings in November 2015 without settling the amount due. NBAD argued that BP had been barred from selling-on the debt under its original contract with Samir.

National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) has been unable to escape from European sanctions, despite the positive impact of the nuclear deal (see GSN view). In September, the European Court of Justice’s general court comprehensively rejected an NITC application for the dismissal of a European Council (EC) order from February 2015, which included it on the list of sanctioned entities. NITC had won a court victory in mid-2014 removing its name from the listing