Ajman Bank has informed that it has clinched a Dh54 million deal with the Ajman Free Zone Authority (AFZA) that will make further expansion of Al Jarf industrial hub possible.
 
The sources said that the deal offers a form of Islamic finance known as Ijarah that will be used to complete the third phase of a warehouse project.
 
The sources further added that the agreement is the second to be inked by the bank and AFZA in recent months.
 

A sum of more than $3 billion is owed to UAE banks by troubled Saudi Arabian groups Saad and Al-Gosaibi and their banking outfits. This has led to some analysts to question as to whether the banks did enough deliberation on the total size of debt they had become exposed to.

One banking analyst said: "I think many banks may not have bothered to verify their aggregate exposure built up to these groups." Finances have been raised by the two Saudi groups via eight syndications in the last four years alone.

Dubai Bank has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Islamic Arab Insurance Company (Salama), a leading provider of Shariah-compliant insurance solutions.

The bank has entered into this alliance with the aim to expand its portfolio of Islamic insurance plans.
 
As per the terms of agreement, Salama will provide Dubai Bank customers a wide range of Shariah-compliant unit-linked funds through lumpsum investments as well as systematic investment plans.
 

Tuesday saw Dubai-based lender Emirates NBD confirming that it raised a sum of 4 billion dirhams ($1.09 billion). It did so by issuing debt securities to the bank's majority shareholder, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).

The bank's tier 1 ratio, a measure to assess a bank's financial strength, would be lifted to more than 11 percent by the 4 billion dirhams in debt securities, said the Gulf region's largest bank by assets. 

The international lending to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East could shrink due to the debt restructurings of Saudi groups Saad and Al Gosaibi. This follows a similar situation faced by Kuwait; and the companies in the Gulf region may find it difficult to refinance syndicates or bilateral loans.

Dubai Properties and Standard Chartered Bank are going to offer 'Easy Loan' mortgages to the buyers and owners of residential units at the Executive Towers.

Standard Chartered Bank shall make the loans available to the customers after evaluations done by independent surveyors, and would require the least documentation. The loan would be made available to those residents of the UAE, who fulfill the eligibility criteria.

Korea Development Bank (KDB) has announced that it is in early negotiations with Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Adic) on cross-holding agreements.

The sources said that South Korea is eyeing to the Middle East for a new source of investment as advanced economies struggle with recession.

The sources further added that KDB also intends to launch private equity fund to buy assets from local business groups in the process of restructuring.