Wednesday 13 January 2010

New queries on lenders’ merger

Amlak and Tamweel once controlled more than half of Dubai’s booming mortgage market, but for more than a year the country’s two largest Islamic lenders have been closed to new customers while they crept toward a merger.

Now the creation of a judicial panel to hear disputes involving the two lenders and their creditors is expected to clear the way for the tie-up. But the new panel’s precise legal remit has not been made public and lawyers fear it may be usurping a function better provided by the country’s court system.

“In my opinion, the judicial committee is more of a pre-emptive move to help keep the situation under control, should some of the creditors choose to push for their claims,” says Khalid Howladar, the senior credit officer of structured and Islamic finance at Moody’s Investors Service.

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