Top 100 Arab Banks: Waiting for the after-shock

Top 100 Arab Banks: Waiting for the after-shock

Banks in the Middle East and North Africa generally performed well in 1997 despite hits in the second half from falling oil prices and Asian economic turmoil. Even where oil economies have successfully diversified, though, 1998 looks like being a tougher prospect. Banks in the region will therefore need to look harder at consolidation and cost-cutting. Andrew Beikos and Anthony Christofides report.

Edited by Steven Irvine

Western lawyers and financiers have laboured hard and long to achieve Middle Eastern financings which comply with Islamic law. A recent legal innovation may hold the key.

Awards of Excellence

Many Moslems are proud of their approach to finance but are bemused by western criticism. Richard Freeland explains.

Islamic banks aim for the mainstream

Difficulties at one Middle East bank have focused attention on a fast-growing sector of the finance market. Islamic banks used to be simply places for those with strong religious convictions to deposit their money. Now, as Nigel Dudley reports, these institutions want to grow internationally, get into new business areas and compete for non-Moslem customers. International firms such as Citibank think the sector is attractive enough to set up their own specialist operations.

Investment bankers are sometimes accused of seeking an image that is more pin-up than pinstripes. One of their number at least will be among the throng at the Cannes film festival, but she will be quite happy for the paparazzi to keep their lenses trained on the starlets cavorting on the beach. Premila Hoon will be looking for projects to launch Société Générale's new film-finance business.

Bahraini bankers worry about a new Gulf war and fall-out from the Asia crisis. But there may be a bigger threat: competition for Bahrain's role as the Gulf's financial centre. It is responding by strengthening regulation, encouraging deeper capital markets and pushing for greater regional cooperation. By Nigel Dudley

The first investment-management company in the Gulf region managed by ladies for the benefit of ladies will be inaugurated in January 1998. The Qatar Ladies Investment Company is the brainchild of 28-year-old managing director and shareholder Sheikha Hanadi Al Thani who saw a need to fill the very large gap in women's finance in her country.

When it comes to infrastructure projects, this is the big one - an engineering feat on a par with the Great Wall of China. But as well as flooding 600 kilometres of the Yangzi valley, the Three Gorges dam could cause a deluge of arguments among the foreign banks and contractors lining up to get involved. Jack Lowenstein reports on some early signs of trouble and picks out the project's likely backers.

Arab 100 1997: Good times hit the Gulf

Arab 100 1997: Good times hit the Gulf

Arab 100 1997: Good times hit the Gulf

Deals of the Year

Arab 100 1997: Good times hit the Gulf

Arab 100 1997: Good times hit the Gulf

With a rare combination of rising oil prices, bumper harvests and policy reforms lifting the economic fortunes of the Middle East, its banks enjoyed a good year in 1996. Tony Wynne and Anthony Christofides take a look at the top 100 Arab banks and assess their prospects for 1997.

Global Financing Guide: Pleasing the crowd

Awards for Excellence 1997

Saudi Arabia's capital markets will require reform and liberalization if the kingdom is to build a dynamic economy on what is left of its oil wealth. The Saudi authorities are as aware of this as outside observers and their own bankers, but have been ultra-cautious about implementing change. Philip Moore reports on signs of a quickening pace.

If Arab states are to build industrialized trading economies on their oil wealth they will need internationally accessible capital markets trading a full range of financial instruments. Without these, Arab funds abroad - let alone foreign capital - are unlikely to flow in. Nigel Dudley reports.

Domestic Russian government bills, GKOs, are already popular with investors. Now it looks as though Russian companies will coat-tail their government and issue in the local market. By Sophie Roëll

Western banks and money managers are battling for a share of the emerging markets as a provider of investment funds. One of the fiercest fights is for the short-term cash deposits of Muslim investors, whose volume worldwide is estimated at $50 billion. Despite setbacks and strict rules against investment in interest-bearing securities, Islamic funds are all the rage.

Want to know who your boss will be in five years time? These are Euromoney's picks for the top 50 financial leaders aged 40 and under from around the world. They are already in key positions in leading organizations around the world, and their peers and mentors have marked them out for even greater things. Together they represent a broad church - some coming from financial families but proving their own worth, others making their way up from the bottom. We start with our top 10; the rest are split up according to geographical region.

The top 100 Arab banks

Mexico, Brazil and Argentina have adhered to their structural reform programmes despite the side-effects ­ on growth and employment ­ in order to maintain investor confidence. But, David Pilling argues, high financing requirements could still lead them into difficulties. A sudden outflow of capital might result in default

The top 100 Arab banks