Saudi money supply, loan data show economy slowing | Reuters:
"Saudi Arabian money supply and bank lending figures show the economy of the world's biggest oil exporter has started to slow as low global energy prices force the government to clamp down on spending.
M3 money supply grew just 3.9 percent from a year earlier in October, the slowest expansion since November 2010, when Saudi Arabia was emerging from the global financial crisis, according to central bank data released late on Thursday. Annual growth in September 2015 was 8.5 percent.
Growth in narrower measures of money supply, M1 and M2, also slowed sharply to multi-year lows. Growth in bank lending to the private sector fell to 5.0 percent, again the lowest rate since November 2010, from 7.1 percent."
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Friday, 27 November 2015
HSBC whistleblower jailed for five years over biggest leak in banking history | News | The Guardian
HSBC whistleblower jailed for five years over biggest leak in banking history | News | The Guardian:
"The whistleblower who exposed wrongdoing at HSBC’s Swiss private bank has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Swiss court.
Hervé Falciani, a former IT worker, was convicted in his absence for the biggest leak in banking history. He is currently living in France, where he sought refuge from Swiss justice, and did not attend the trial.
The leak of secret bank account details formed the basis of revelations – by the Guardian, the BBC, Le Monde and other media outlets – which showed that HSBC’s Swiss banking arm turned a blind eye to illegal activities of arms dealers and helped wealthy people evade taxes."
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"The whistleblower who exposed wrongdoing at HSBC’s Swiss private bank has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Swiss court.
Hervé Falciani, a former IT worker, was convicted in his absence for the biggest leak in banking history. He is currently living in France, where he sought refuge from Swiss justice, and did not attend the trial.
The leak of secret bank account details formed the basis of revelations – by the Guardian, the BBC, Le Monde and other media outlets – which showed that HSBC’s Swiss banking arm turned a blind eye to illegal activities of arms dealers and helped wealthy people evade taxes."
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Egypt's central bank savior faces tricky balancing act | Reuters
Egypt's central bank savior faces tricky balancing act | Reuters:
"From bankers to carmakers, Egypt's business community will breathe easier when Tarek Amer takes charge at the central bank on Friday, with hopes high he will revamp a monetary policy that has undermined investment and growth.
Announced last month, the leadership change unleashed anger against outgoing governor Hisham Ramez, who capped dollar deposits at $50,000 a month, starving businesses of hard currency and paralyzing trade as he sought to defend the country's pound.
Amer, the well regarded former head of commercial lender National Bank of Egypt (NBE), has already been working hard behind the scenes to inject fresh funds into a sclerotic financial system, and he is widely expected to lift the cap."
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"From bankers to carmakers, Egypt's business community will breathe easier when Tarek Amer takes charge at the central bank on Friday, with hopes high he will revamp a monetary policy that has undermined investment and growth.
Announced last month, the leadership change unleashed anger against outgoing governor Hisham Ramez, who capped dollar deposits at $50,000 a month, starving businesses of hard currency and paralyzing trade as he sought to defend the country's pound.
Amer, the well regarded former head of commercial lender National Bank of Egypt (NBE), has already been working hard behind the scenes to inject fresh funds into a sclerotic financial system, and he is widely expected to lift the cap."
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Buyout Firm General Atlantic Seeks Mideast Deals Amid Oil Slump - Bloomberg Business
Buyout Firm General Atlantic Seeks Mideast Deals Amid Oil Slump - Bloomberg Business:
"General Atlantic LLC, a New York private equity firm that’s invested in Facebook Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., plans further acquisitions in the Middle East after completing its first deal and may open an office in the region, Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford said.
The buyout firm, with more than half of its portfolio outside the U.S., is interested in family businesses and entrepreneurial companies in the technology industry, he said in an interview. General Atlantic typically invests as much as $2.5 billion a year globally in as many as 12 deals, he said. The company said Wednesday it partnered with Warburg Pincus, another U.S. private equity firm, to buy a 49 percent stake in Dubai-based payment-processor Network International for an undisclosed amount from Abraaj Group .
U.S. private equity investors are increasingly targeting the Middle East, where the slump in oil prices has depressed asset values and demographic and economic trends offer the potential for long-term growth. TPG Capital Management LP partnered with Abraaj Group to buy a stake in Saudi fast-food chain Kudu in April, while Leon Black’s Apollo is also interested in deals in the region, people with knowledge of the matter said in September."
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"General Atlantic LLC, a New York private equity firm that’s invested in Facebook Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., plans further acquisitions in the Middle East after completing its first deal and may open an office in the region, Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford said.
The buyout firm, with more than half of its portfolio outside the U.S., is interested in family businesses and entrepreneurial companies in the technology industry, he said in an interview. General Atlantic typically invests as much as $2.5 billion a year globally in as many as 12 deals, he said. The company said Wednesday it partnered with Warburg Pincus, another U.S. private equity firm, to buy a 49 percent stake in Dubai-based payment-processor Network International for an undisclosed amount from Abraaj Group .
U.S. private equity investors are increasingly targeting the Middle East, where the slump in oil prices has depressed asset values and demographic and economic trends offer the potential for long-term growth. TPG Capital Management LP partnered with Abraaj Group to buy a stake in Saudi fast-food chain Kudu in April, while Leon Black’s Apollo is also interested in deals in the region, people with knowledge of the matter said in September."
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Biggest Oil Buyers Pick Themselves as Winners From OPEC Meeting - Bloomberg Business
Biggest Oil Buyers Pick Themselves as Winners From OPEC Meeting - Bloomberg Business:
"Oil buyers in Asia are sure of one thing as OPEC prepares to meet: They’ll emerge as winners from the group’s rift over production.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will gather Dec. 4 in Vienna, where Iran has said it will announce plans to boost production by 500,000 barrels a day. That may further lift the 12-member group’s output, which has exceeded its target for 17 months. The increase in volumes would exacerbate a global glut and benefit the biggest oil-consuming region’s refiners, which are seeking cheaper sources of crude.
OPEC is forecast to stick with its strategy of defending market share by maintaining output and driving down higher-cost production elsewhere, according to analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg . That’ll leave members including Saudi Arabia free to continue pumping even amid calls from Iran to make room for its extra supply after international sanctions over its nuclear program are lifted."
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"Oil buyers in Asia are sure of one thing as OPEC prepares to meet: They’ll emerge as winners from the group’s rift over production.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will gather Dec. 4 in Vienna, where Iran has said it will announce plans to boost production by 500,000 barrels a day. That may further lift the 12-member group’s output, which has exceeded its target for 17 months. The increase in volumes would exacerbate a global glut and benefit the biggest oil-consuming region’s refiners, which are seeking cheaper sources of crude.
OPEC is forecast to stick with its strategy of defending market share by maintaining output and driving down higher-cost production elsewhere, according to analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg . That’ll leave members including Saudi Arabia free to continue pumping even amid calls from Iran to make room for its extra supply after international sanctions over its nuclear program are lifted."
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