U.A.E. to Implement Amlak, Tamweel Merger in January

The United Arab Emirates government will begin implementing a planned merger of cash-strapped mortgage lenders Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC in January, said Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri, the Minister of Economy.

“We are moving very forward in that and as we promised, in January 2010 we will start implementing the solution,” al- Mansouri told reporters at a conference in Dubai today.

Dubai-based Amlak and Tamweel, whose shares were suspended in November, could form a new Islamic bank, al-Mansouri told Dubai Television on Oct. 8. He said Amlak and Tamweel’s investors may own a third of the new bank, while the U.A.E. and Dubai governments may share the remaining stake equally.

Amlak and Tamweel, both of which comply with Muslim banking rules, were the U.A.E.’s two biggest mortgage lenders before the seizure of global credit markets blocked their access to new funding. Amlak reported a loss of 65.6 million dirhams ($18 million) in the second-quarter to June, while Tamweel reported a loss of 35 million dirhams in the same period.END