Saudi exposure forces banks to slow lending

The ongoing financial crisis followed by the Saad-Algosaiby multibillion-dollar crisis involving almost all the 'who's who' in the region's banking industry, are bound to force the banks to go slow on their lending for some time, said leading bankers.

Incidentally, the default crisis of the Saudi duo is exactly a decade after the billion-dollar Madhav Patel scam shook the GCC's banking industry in 1999.

It is more than six months since any noticeable syndicated deal was concluded in the country. This doesn't mean that large corporates and family conglomerates do not need funding. Though several entities have put on hold many of their projects, many family business groups are now planning to raise debt in the form of sukuks or conventional bonds to fund their expansion or new projects.