FREE downloads

Banking

The responses to the global financial crisis of the banking regulators in the Middle East and North Africa region have been many and varied. MEED’s Special Report analyses and compares the responses of the respective countries’ central banks. The report assesses the effectiveness of the action taken to mitigate the effects of the credit crunch on domestic economies, and includes a mix of interviews from central bank governors, bankers and banking analysts. If a similar crisis were to happen again in the future, what lessons have been learned in 2008 and 2009?

The credit ratings of the Middle East’s major banks are regularly reviewed, with some banks having been hit by ratings downgrades as a result of the global credit crunch. MEED’s Special Report includes an article focussing on the creditworthiness of the Middle East’s leading banks – which banks have successfully boosted their capital and reduced their corporate debt in the past 12 months, and which are still struggling with the effects of the global financial crisis?

In the past five years, a raft of new banks have launched in the Gulf – including both Islamic and conventional investment banks. MEED’s banking report reviews which new banks have launched in the region recently, and which banks have expanded significantly since their launch. The report features interviews with the CEOs of the region’s youngest banks, including comment on the banks’ long-term strategies.

A number of major banks, both international and Gulf-based, have announced the launch of Gulf-focussed private equity funds in recent months. With private equity activity expected to pick up in the region during the remainder of 2009, which banks have launched private equity fund and what is the target size of these funds? The report includes interviews with senior bankers on the health of the private equity industry, identifying the sectors that private equity investors are most interested in.