Banks may recoup 60 pct Saad, Gosaibi loans

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Middle East banks are confident they'll recoup about 60% of funds lent to troubled Saudi business conglomerates Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi Bros. & Co., the chairman of the Union of Arab Banks told Zawya Dow Jones Monday.

"These companies (Saad and Al Gosaibi) have assets," Adnan Yousif told Zawya Dow Jones on the sidelines of a conference. "For Al Gosaibi, I anticipate that banks could recover 60% and for Saad it will be more or less the same."

Global exposure to Saad and AHAB is by some estimates as high as $20 billion with Middle East banks assumed to hold a large chunk of the share. The groups first defaulted on some debt obligations in the second-quarter of 2009 and no resolution has been achieved with creditors.