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Merger talks between Saudi British Bank (Sabb) and Alawwal Bank (formerly known as Saudi Hollandi Bank) are at an advanced stage, with a preliminary, non-binding agreement reached on the share exchange ratio. In statements issued on 16 May, they said the talks were still subject to the completion of due diligence and a number of other commercial issues.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank, has denied any attempt to manipulate the value of the Qatari riyal, following reports that Central Bank of Qatar (CBQ) had written to the United States Treasury and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission asking them to investigate possible manipulation by NBAD Americas, FAB’s US subsidiary. The dispute adds another facet to the nine-month stand-off between Doha and the GCC-3 of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama, central bank) on 15 March surprised markets by raising its policy rates by 25 basis points with immediate effect, bringing the benchmark repo rate (the price at which Sama lends to commercial banks) to 2.25% and the reverse repo rate to 1.75%. It marked a change from Sama’s usual approach of waiting for the US Federal Reserve to adjust its interest rates first before following suit.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged Barclays Bank with providing unlawful financial assistance to Qatar Holding, in the latest step in the long-running investigation into how the British bank coped with the 2008 global financial crisis. The latest charges were announced by the SFO on 12 February and relate to a $3bn loan that Barclays Bank plc gave to Qatar Holding between 1 October and 30 November 2008.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s retail fuel arm Adnoc Distribution has set a price range of Dh2.35-2.95 ($0.64-0.80) per share in its initial public offering (IPO) on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The government is planning to sell between 1.25bn and 2.5bn shares in the business, equating to 10-20% of its share capital. The sale could garner $800m-$2bn for the state. The shares are expected to list on the ADX on 13 December.

A judge at the High Court in London has ruled the UK government must disclose some previously secret material used to justify sanctions on Bank Mellat, in a partial victory for the Iranian bank. Bank Mellat’s passage through the British courts has made fitful progress since it was caught by sanctions imposed in 2009 under the Financial Restrictions (Iran) Order. This had a severe impact on the bank’s business in the UK and internationally.

Global indexing company FTSE Russell launched a FTSE Saudi Arabia Inclusion Index Series on 29 October, comprising a stand-alone index for the kingdom and another which includes constituents of various regional and global FTSE indices. It is a further endorsement of moves to open the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) to investors since 2015. Al Rajhi Capital Research described it as a “major boost” to the local market. FTSE Russell expects Saudi Arabia to qualify as a secondary emerging market within the widely-followed FTSE Global Equity Index Series from early 2018.

Recent changes at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) have left locals questioning whether room for public debate on economic matters may be narrowing in the sultanate. Along with long-standing executive president Hamud Sangur Al-Zadjali’s departure, there was a wider reshuffle of CBO’s board of governors. Among those to depart was non-executive director Dr Hatim Al-Shanfari an, at times, notable critic of the government’s economic policy.

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said dispensed with the long-serving governor of the Central Bank of Oman on 5 September. Tahir Bin Salim Bin Abdullah Al-Amri was appointed executive president of the central bank, taking over from Hamud Sangur Al-Zadjali who had been in post for 26 years.

Politics: Governed by the Al-Sabah family since the 18th century, Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961; its new constitution confirmed the hereditary monarchy but gave significant powers to an independent judiciary and elected assembly. The emir – Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah (born in June 1929) since 2006 – retains final say. Parties are banned, but active associations and factions create opposition blocs in the 50-member Majlis Al-Umma (National Assembly). The downside of the Gulf’s most participatory politics has been constant friction between the elected parliament and appointed government, often leading to paralysis of the state.

Oman’s efforts to diversify its economy have been taking it into some unusual new areas. On 30 August, mining company Berkeley Energia announced that the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) was investing up to $120m in its business. The deal is being structured as an interest-free, unsecured loan of $65m; which can be converted into 28% of the company’s shares; and three further tranches of convertible options worth up to $55m in total, which would give Oman a further 9% holding in the business.

Construction industry giant Saudi Oger, which was considered one of the kingdom’s leading businesses for nearly 40 years, is on the verge of formerly declaring bankruptcy amid spiralling debts and payment defaults, sources in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have told GSN. The company’s demise has been widely predicted, as it struggled to cope with a freeze on Saudi government contract payments and other problems. It has missed wage payments from late 2015 and accumulated huge debts which it can’t service.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has become the latest state-owned oil company to eye up local stock markets. Adnoc is planning to list minority stakes in some of its service company subsidiaries, according to a statement issued on 10 July. As yet, no specific units have been named as candidates, but any listings appear likely to go ahead on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Adnoc’s move follows similar plans previously announced for Saudi Aramco and Oman Oil Company.

Iranian banks are continuing the tortuously slow process of expanding their international operations in the wake of the nuclear deal, which lifted some (but not all) sanctions, with two banks reopening their branches in Oman and a third opening a representative office in Europe. It was announced that the local branches of Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat would be “reactivated”, after being mothballed during the sanctions era, during a late May visit to Muscat by Bank Markazi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran (Central Bank of Iran – CBI) governor Valiollah Seif. Central Bank of Oman executive president Hamood Bin Sangour Bin Hashim Al-Zadjali and Seif also agreed to connect their card payment systems so customers can use ATMs in both countries and to develop more correspondent banking relations

Elements of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s economic policy have been viewed as visionary by boosters in the kingdom and abroad. These include a huge investment in ‘disruptive’ technology companies based on the US west coast. Institutional Investor (II), a monthly read for investment bankers and hedge funds, described MBS’s decision to invest in cutting-edge digital companies, as signalled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF)’s $3.5bn investment in San Francisco-based taxi app Uber Technologies, as “a rare embrace of modernity for deeply conservative Saudi Arabia”.