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New era dawns as easy days come to an end
 At the turn of the century, Riyadh, which was later to become the capital of Saudi Arabia, had neither a currency nor anything resembling a financial institution. A monetary system was established by King Abdulaziz in 1928 and official Saudi paper currency was issued only in 1961. The banking industry virtually moved from cash to credit cards, bypassing the cheque-book era. ...more
ISLAMIC BANKING:
Moves to branch out in a big way
Profiting from principal may once have been the core purpose of Islamic banks, but with the industry's growth to a point where some analysts value the Gulf business alone at $30bn, other factors have come into play. ...more
SAUDI MERGER:
New enlarged Samba has some Saudis dancing
The proposed tie-up announced in January between Samba and United Saudi Bank (USB), of which the prince is chairman and 30 per cent shareholder, has met with much public praise, thanks partly to the high profile of Saudi Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company, and partly to the standing of Saudi American Bank (Samba). ...more
RETAIL BANKING:
Cautious moves to meet growing consumer demand
Tentative and cautious are the phrases most commonly used when describing the retail banking operations of Middle East banks, despite efforts to meet growing consumer demand for retail services. ...more
CAPITAL MARKETS:
Turbulence begins to take its toll
Radical differences in liquidity, performance and practice have been reflected in regional market trends in the wake of the turbulence faced by emerging markets in the past year. This has had an impact on the growth of capital markets throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...more
SAUDI AND GULF BANKS:
Suddenly, talk gives way to action
After years of nothing but talk that bank mergers were a good idea, "bigger is better" has all of a sudden become the fashion in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. However, the spate of mergers announced in the past two months leaves many analysts unconvinced. ...more
ISRAEL:
Green light for privatisation
Investors are awaiting full year results from Israel's biggest banks at the end of March, as an indication of how the financial sector is coping with a three-year economic slowdown that shows no signs of reversing. ...more
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