Iran forces currency traders underground - FT.com

Ahmad, a 45-year-old conservative Iranian, saw his business brought to an abrupt halt when his Tehran shop was sealed off by state authorities recently.
A currency trader for 20 years, Ahmad has continued to operate underground, although his daily trade has slowed to a trickle.
Pacing the street by his shuttered shop in downtown Tehran, he waits for customers to call him on his mobile telephone, while fretting about an impromptu visit by the police. “You can’t buy millions of dollars any more, but you can still purchase about $100,000,” he says.

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Kuwait's KFH posts 33% rise in Q3 net profit - Banking & Finance - ArabianBusiness.com

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the country's biggest Islamic lender, has reported a 33 percent increase in third-quarter net profit, beating analyst estimates.
Net profit rose to KD33.7m ($119.9m) from KD25.3m in the same period a year ago, according to a statement carried by state news agency KUNA.
Four analysts in a Reuters survey had predicted a KD19.7m profit on average for the quarter.

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Saudi Gazette - KSA, UAE, Qatar spur Mideast fund industry

The regional fund industry is showing greater optimism and confidence in 2012 compared with 2011, Advent Software, Inc. said in its white paper titled “Middle East Fund Survey 2012”. It noted that the trust is driven by factors ranging from better expectations in individual company performance to better opportunities in the GCC markets – from improved market sentiment regarding the UAE property market to overall expectations of net inflows into the industry.

The survey also “clearly validated the strength of the Saudi Arabia, Qatari and UAE markets in terms of liquidity and size.”

The volume and size of project activity in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar also make them very lucrative for both local and international fund companies and distributors as well as for investors.

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