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Climate goals: Ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, the UAE has set out a national action plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 – while also remaining a world-leading oil producer.

Iraq joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in November, taking the London-based multilateral's number of shareholders to 74. Joining the bank means Baghdad will be able to apply for financial and policy support from the EBRD.

Tiny Ras Al-Khaimah doesn’t often attract great international attention, except at times of succession change and when its state-owned entities have become caught up in poisonous legal disputes or geopolitical tussles. But the leadership’s recent ambitions for a range of business interests have encouraged renewed focus on the northern emirate. Developments include casino giant Wynn Resorts’ plans for an ‘integrated resort’ with ‘gaming’ facilities, which comes alongside increasing investment from Abu Dhabi, a government pushing hard for the tourist dollar and an emir, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, on the move to raise RAK’s profile. In a Special report, GSN examines RAK’s development plans and provides some historical context. 

A team from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is to visit the UAE before February, as the Abu Dhabi government continues efforts to secure its removal from the Paris-based money laundering watchdog’s 'grey list' of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.

Dubai’s government plans to cut its debts by AED29bn ($7.9bn) this year, in a sign the emirate may be getting to grips with what has been a key economic vulnerability. In a statement, Dubai said it would pay off part of a AED20bn loan from the Central Bank of the UAE and Abu Dhabi government, which was provided after the 2008/09 financial crisis.

Kuwait's finance minister Manaf Al-Hajeri resigned on 11 July, less than a month after his appointment to Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Sabah’s cabinet, reportedly in protest at the decision to move responsibility for the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) over to minister of state for economic affairs and investment Saad Al-Barrak, who also serves as oil minister.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) kept the UAE on its 'grey list' of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. The UAE is one of 26 jurisdictions on the grey list, alongside the likes of Jordan, Turkey and Yemen. The inter-governmental watchdog also kept Iran on its 'black list' of high-risk jurisdictions, alongside North Korea and Myanmar.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said Qatar needs to make major improvements in its approach to tackling complex money laundering and terrorist financing cases.

Germany’s largest bank Deutsche Bank has been pursuing bankruptcy proceedings against entities in Sweden and the Cayman Islands connected to Saudi-Ethiopian businessman Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi. The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands had ordered the winding-up of Amoudi Aviation, following a petition submitted one month earlier by Deutsche Bank Luxembourg.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Luxembourg-based Banque Havilland and a number of its executives and employees for trying to devalue the Qatari riyal in 2017, at a time when Qatar was facing a boycott by Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and some allied countries.

In a so far unusual move against a Russian entity, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) cancelled MTS Bank’s licence to operate in Abu Dhabi in late March, citing the "sanctions risks associated with the bank".

Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa is to take over as chief executive of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat from 1 May, replacing Khalid Al-Rumaihi who has been in the post since September 2019.

Saudi National Bank (SNB)’s investment in banking giant Credit Suisse has proved to be a costly transaction, with the value of its stake falling by around $1.2bn in the space of a few months.

The Central Bank of the UAE said it revoked the licence of Dubai-based exchange house Dollar Exchange due to "serious regulatory misconduct by the exchange house". Before that, it said it had taken similar action against Al-Rasheed exchange house, which had engaged in "serious AML malpractice".

A report alleging widespread fraud at one of India’s largest conglomerates has seen the share price of Adani Group companies plummet on the National Stock Exchange of India. Among the investors affected is International Holding Company, chaired by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, which may be sitting on losses of around $770m.