Lord Mayor to Lobby Sheikh on U.K. Bank Dubai Debts

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Nick Anstee, the 682nd lord mayor of the City of London, plans to ask Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, to help British banks owed money in the second-largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates.

“There are about five banks which are owed a considerable sum of money,” Anstee, 51, told reporters yesterday at Mansion House, the lord mayor’s Georgian palace opposite the Bank of England. “I have a reasonable expectation that I will meet all parties from Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum downwards.”

Dubai last year turned to wealthier neighbor Abu Dhabi for a bailout as its debt-fueled growth stalled. The lord mayor, who will visit Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10, is the elected leader of the City of London, the U.K. capital’s financial district.