Kuwait

In the years since the 2008 economic crisis local lenders in Kuwait have expended much effort on restructuring loan portfolios, aided by a central bank keen on returning the domestic market to a position where it might lend productively and thereby stimulate the wider economy. High rates of provisioning and anaemic credit growth suggest this process...

After a period in which the country’s bond market was negatively affected by the global economic crisis, signs of growth were returning at the turn of the year: Consumer credit firm Commercial Facilities Company announced the successful completion of its KD50m ($180m) local bond in December 2011, which was followed by Kuwait Projects Company’s (...

As the global economy lurched into crisis in 2008, governments and central banks the world over acted to mitigate its deleterious effects, using a full array of traditional tools – such as monetary policy and open market measures – and more radical instruments, in the form of new regulation or legislation.

With an evolving regulatory environment and a shift in the way investment companies operate, the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) is at something of a crossroads. One of the oldest exchanges in the region and the third-largest in the GCC, the KSE has been affected by both domestic and international events in recent years.

The modern era of Kuwaiti banking began in 1952 with the creation of the first national bank in the Gulf region, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK). Founded by prominent local merchants to serve the national interest and invigorate the economy, it established the country as a regional banking centre. The intervening years have seen new financial markets...

The slow rate of recovery seen in GCC equity markets has resulted in a diminished initial public offering (IPO) pipeline. Companies across the region have placed their flotation plans on hold as they wait for more favourable economic conditions. This trend has not bypassed Kuwait, where a number of firms have either slowed or reversed their IPO...