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Sohar International Bank (SIB) has proposed a merger with Bank Nizwa, in the latest effort at consolidation in the banking sector. 

GSN Risk Grade: B↓3 Haitham in Qatar: Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said made a rare visit to another GCC country, with a trip to Qatar on 22-23 November. Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani hosted a lunch on his arrival and the two leaders held talks and witnessed the signing of six agreements covering cooperation on military affairs, taxation, labour, investment, tourism and transport.

The government announced details of a $30bn investment programme on 24 November. Known as the Strategic Projects Plan, it covers 22 schemes, including the creation of five cities on newly-constructed islands, which will increase Bahrain’s total land area by more than 60%.

Dubai-based Mashreqbank has agreed to pay $100m in penalties to the New York State Department of Financial Services to end an investigation into its violation of sanctions targeting Sudan.

GSN Risk Grade: D↓5 Recent developments Central Bank governor: Ali Salehabadi has been appointed governor of Bank Markazi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran (Central Bank of Iran) in an appointment announced on Twitter by finance and economic affairs minister Ehsan Khandouzi on 6 October.

Investment minister Khalid Bin Abdelaziz Al-Falih went on a brief tour of European and central Asian countries in late September in an effort to drum up interest in the Saudi economy.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s favoured vehicle the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to acquire a 25% stake in Emaar, the Economic City, to settle a debt of SR2.8bn ($755m) that the master developer of King Abdullah Economic City owed to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Mishcon de Reya, a London law firm renowned for its litigation practice, has set up a litigation financing joint venture with Harbour Litigation Funding.

The scale of the PIF’s activities may have unintended consequences for the government’s oft-stated ambitions to encourage greater private sector activity. Concerns have repeatedly been raised that it reduces the room available for private sector actors.

Baha governor Prince Hussam Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz’s appeal against a bankruptcy judgement obtained against him by Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) will return to the High Court in London this summer.

Officials are adamant the sale and leasing of assets, and a steady flow of huge bond issues, are not being done to maintain Aramco’s $75bn annual dividend – and major new investments are planned that will need funding – but the oil giant is clearly under pressure to maintain its position as the state’s cash-cow.

The merger of Saudi banks Samba Capital and National Commercial Bank (NCB) was formally completed on 11 July, with Samba rolled into NCB and the enlarged group adopting the new name of Saudi National Bank.

Yemen’s war economy continues to drive the armed conflict and influence the pace of ceasefire negotiations. While political negotiations continue, Houthi leaders are securing their long-term economic interests. The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned a network of financiers and smugglers linked to the Sanaa-based Houthis on 10 June.

The arrest of finance minister Ali Al-Emadi on allegations of abusing public funds – GSN hears to speculate on cryptocurrencies – was all the more surprising given Qatar’s tendency to resolve sensitive disputes in private.

Saudi Arabia posted a surprise 80% year-on-year rise in foreign direct investment in October-December 2020, when the $1.9bn figure was the highest since Q4 2016, according to Saudi Central Bank data released on 28 March. The Ministry of Investment also announced in late March that it had issued 466 foreign investor licences in Q4 20, the highest figure since records began in 2005.