Over the past decade, the Islamic financial services (IFS) industry has grown 50% faster than the conventional financial sector. Worldwide IFS assets totalled $1.8trn in 2012, according to Ernst & Young’s (EY) “World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2012-13”. By the end of 2014, IFS assets are projected to top the $2trn mark, and...
The UAE boasts some of the highest internet, credit card and e-commerce penetration rates in the MENA region, making it ideal for online shopping. However, payment systems in the country are not yet at the same level of sophistication as more developed international retail markets. While credit transfers are increasingly used for salary and high...
In January 2013, Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced an initiative to turn Dubai into the “global capital of the Islamic economy”. The six-pillar strategy calls for the development of the halal food and tourism industries, as well as the expansion of the Islamic financial services (IFS) sector, and small and medium-...
How is the rapid turnaround in the corporate lending market and subsequent influx of competition expected to affect the sector’s profitability?
Driven by enhanced liquidity in the banking sector, rising property prices and an overall improvement in the domestic economy, Dubai’s capital markets began 2013 in full recovery mode. In June 2013 the UAE was finally upgraded from “frontier” to “emerging market” status by the global index compiler MSCI, after nearly five years of efforts to...
Despite the ample liquidity in the Gulf region, Dubai’s exchanges still lack diverse debt-financing tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and are in need of new listings from major national companies to boost trading volumes and broaden the institutional investor bases of bourses.
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