Kuwait's Americana says major shareholder reviewing stake | Reuters:
"Kuwait Food Co. (Americana) (FOOD.KW) asked for its shares to be suspended on the Kuwaiti bourse on Wednesday after its main shareholder said it was reviewing its portfolio, including its stake in the firm.
Americana said Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Co was working with unidentified financial and legal advisers to look at its strategic options, which included action related to its holding in one of the Gulf's largest food firms.
The firm is owned by the al-Kharafi family, the majority shareholder in Americana."
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Wednesday 17 September 2014
N.Y. court asked to freeze Turkish family's assets in UAE bank | Reuters
N.Y. court asked to freeze Turkish family's assets in UAE bank | Reuters:
"An attorney for a Motorola subsidiary asked New York's top state court on Tuesday to allow it to freeze the assets of a Turkish family held by a branch of an international bank in the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan in 2003 ruled that the Uzan family owed Motorola Credit Corp more than $2 billion and tacked on $1 billion in punitive damages in 2006. It was found that the Uzans siphoned off loans that Motorola Credit made more than a decade ago to Turkish mobile phone company Telsim, which the family controlled at the time.
Last year, however, Rakoff ruled in favor of defendant Standard Chartered Bank [STANB.UL], who was holding $30 million for the Uzans in a branch in the United Arab Emirates. Rakoff said New York law precluded Motorola from ordering a freeze on that money. A federal appeals court asked the New York Court of Appeals to decide whether Rakoff was right."
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"An attorney for a Motorola subsidiary asked New York's top state court on Tuesday to allow it to freeze the assets of a Turkish family held by a branch of an international bank in the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan in 2003 ruled that the Uzan family owed Motorola Credit Corp more than $2 billion and tacked on $1 billion in punitive damages in 2006. It was found that the Uzans siphoned off loans that Motorola Credit made more than a decade ago to Turkish mobile phone company Telsim, which the family controlled at the time.
Last year, however, Rakoff ruled in favor of defendant Standard Chartered Bank [STANB.UL], who was holding $30 million for the Uzans in a branch in the United Arab Emirates. Rakoff said New York law precluded Motorola from ordering a freeze on that money. A federal appeals court asked the New York Court of Appeals to decide whether Rakoff was right."
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Deeper Saudi Oil Cuts Seen After Biggest Drop Since ’12: Energy - Bloomberg
Deeper Saudi Oil Cuts Seen After Biggest Drop Since ’12: Energy - Bloomberg:
"Saudi Arabia will need to keep cutting oil output to sustain prices above $100 a barrel, even after the kingdom’s largest reduction in two years, according to BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA.
The world’s biggest crude exporter told OPEC last week it pumped 408,000 barrels a day less last month, about as much as Australia produces. Output rose in Iran, Iraq and Nigeria, adding to supply that drove benchmark Brent crude futures below $100 this month for the first time since June 2013. Saudi Arabia probably will have to cut a similar amount again to stabilize prices, the banks said.
Global oil demand growth this year will be the weakest since 2011, just as the U.S. shale boom means oil production from countries outside OPEC rises by the most since the 1980s, according to the International Energy Agency. The glut is prompting most of OPEC’s Middle Eastern members, including Saudi Arabia, to cut prices to customers."
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"Saudi Arabia will need to keep cutting oil output to sustain prices above $100 a barrel, even after the kingdom’s largest reduction in two years, according to BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA.
The world’s biggest crude exporter told OPEC last week it pumped 408,000 barrels a day less last month, about as much as Australia produces. Output rose in Iran, Iraq and Nigeria, adding to supply that drove benchmark Brent crude futures below $100 this month for the first time since June 2013. Saudi Arabia probably will have to cut a similar amount again to stabilize prices, the banks said.
Global oil demand growth this year will be the weakest since 2011, just as the U.S. shale boom means oil production from countries outside OPEC rises by the most since the 1980s, according to the International Energy Agency. The glut is prompting most of OPEC’s Middle Eastern members, including Saudi Arabia, to cut prices to customers."
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MIDEAST STOCKS-Emaar Malls IPO weighs on Dubai; Suez Canal success lifts Egypt | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters
MIDEAST STOCKS-Emaar Malls IPO weighs on Dubai; Suez Canal success lifts Egypt | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters:
"A rush by Dubai's retail investors to take part in the initial public offer of Emaar Properties' malls unit put pressure on the emirate's stock market on Tuesday, while successful fund-raising for the Suez Canal expansion lifted stocks in Egypt.
Emaar said late on Monday that institutional investors had committed to buying all the shares offered to them in the flotation of its shopping malls business, only a day after the IPO was launched.
Dubai's largest property developer plans to raise as much as 5.8 billion dirhams ($1.58 billion) from the offer of a 15 percent stake in Emaar Malls Group (EMG), which is expected to be the Gulf's biggest stock sale since 2008."
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"A rush by Dubai's retail investors to take part in the initial public offer of Emaar Properties' malls unit put pressure on the emirate's stock market on Tuesday, while successful fund-raising for the Suez Canal expansion lifted stocks in Egypt.
Emaar said late on Monday that institutional investors had committed to buying all the shares offered to them in the flotation of its shopping malls business, only a day after the IPO was launched.
Dubai's largest property developer plans to raise as much as 5.8 billion dirhams ($1.58 billion) from the offer of a 15 percent stake in Emaar Malls Group (EMG), which is expected to be the Gulf's biggest stock sale since 2008."
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Goldman Learns From Debut Flop in Islamic Finance Market - Bloomberg
Goldman Learns From Debut Flop in Islamic Finance Market - Bloomberg:
"Three years after its first foray into the Islamic capital markets ended without a sale, investors piled in to buy sukuk debt from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) yesterday as the bank joined the governments of Hong Kong and the U.K. in selling debut Shariah-compliant bonds this year.
The New York-based lender attracted bids for three times the $500 million of sukuk it sold yesterday, according to two people familiar with the deal, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The five-year sukuk was priced to yield 90 basis points, or 0.9 percentage point, over the benchmark midswap rate, according to the people.
After failing to sell sukuk bonds in 2011 amid criticism the deal didn’t ensure debt would be traded at par, as required by Islamic law, Goldman adjusted the structure this time in a bid to appeal to more investors. The new issue is a Sukuk al Wakala, a Shariah-compliant format in which one party entrusts another to act on its behalf."
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"Three years after its first foray into the Islamic capital markets ended without a sale, investors piled in to buy sukuk debt from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) yesterday as the bank joined the governments of Hong Kong and the U.K. in selling debut Shariah-compliant bonds this year.
The New York-based lender attracted bids for three times the $500 million of sukuk it sold yesterday, according to two people familiar with the deal, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The five-year sukuk was priced to yield 90 basis points, or 0.9 percentage point, over the benchmark midswap rate, according to the people.
After failing to sell sukuk bonds in 2011 amid criticism the deal didn’t ensure debt would be traded at par, as required by Islamic law, Goldman adjusted the structure this time in a bid to appeal to more investors. The new issue is a Sukuk al Wakala, a Shariah-compliant format in which one party entrusts another to act on its behalf."
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#Ukraine Crisis Seen Lasting for Years in Threat to #Russia - Bloomberg
Ukraine Crisis Seen Lasting for Years in Threat to Russia - Bloomberg:
"The conflict in Ukraine will take years to resolve, rattling Russia’s investment climate and threatening to push its economy into recession at the current level of sanctions, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
“It’s no quick task to resolve the situation in the southeast of Ukraine,” Kudrin said today at a conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow. Finding a solution will require two to three years “at a minimum” under what he called an “optimistic scenario.”
Ukraine’s stalemate against separatists will weigh on Russia’s investment climate until ties improve with the U.S. and the European Union, said Kudrin, 53, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin and one of the few Russian politicians the president has publicly called a friend. After leaving the government in September 2011, Kudrin has served on the president’s economic council and is a member of the supervisory board of Sberbank, the country’s biggest lender."
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"The conflict in Ukraine will take years to resolve, rattling Russia’s investment climate and threatening to push its economy into recession at the current level of sanctions, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
“It’s no quick task to resolve the situation in the southeast of Ukraine,” Kudrin said today at a conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow. Finding a solution will require two to three years “at a minimum” under what he called an “optimistic scenario.”
Ukraine’s stalemate against separatists will weigh on Russia’s investment climate until ties improve with the U.S. and the European Union, said Kudrin, 53, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin and one of the few Russian politicians the president has publicly called a friend. After leaving the government in September 2011, Kudrin has served on the president’s economic council and is a member of the supervisory board of Sberbank, the country’s biggest lender."
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RBS Said to Dismiss Most of Team Overseeing Central Europe Debt - Bloomberg
RBS Said to Dismiss Most of Team Overseeing Central Europe Debt - Bloomberg:
"Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc dismissed most of its team overseeing debt capital markets in central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa amid a review of operations outside the U.K., according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The bank cut about 10 jobs at the London-based unit covering loans, bonds and rates, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to talk publicly. Dismissals are mainly related to Russia and central and eastern Europe, according to one of the people.
RBS Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan, 57, has set up a bad bank, combined divisions and scaled back the securities unit as he strives to restore investor confidence in the wake of fines such as for rigging benchmark interest rates. The company, which is 80 percent owned by the British government, said last month it’s considering selling the international arm of its Coutts private bank to focus on wealthy U.K. clients."
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"Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc dismissed most of its team overseeing debt capital markets in central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa amid a review of operations outside the U.K., according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The bank cut about 10 jobs at the London-based unit covering loans, bonds and rates, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to talk publicly. Dismissals are mainly related to Russia and central and eastern Europe, according to one of the people.
RBS Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan, 57, has set up a bad bank, combined divisions and scaled back the securities unit as he strives to restore investor confidence in the wake of fines such as for rigging benchmark interest rates. The company, which is 80 percent owned by the British government, said last month it’s considering selling the international arm of its Coutts private bank to focus on wealthy U.K. clients."
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