The Middle East

Despite a variety of ongoing challenges, Kuwait’s banking sector has performed well in recent years. The country’s 10 local banks and 11 foreign players make up one of the oldest banking sectors in the region and the third-largest in the GCC, with total assets of KD48.8bn ($174.3bn) at the end of March 2013. In 2012 the industry saw asset growth of...

Over the past half decade the government has introduced a raft of new laws and regulations for its capital markets. The long-term goal is to overhaul and update numerous aspects of the country’s investment industry, from the operation of the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) to the risk management policies currently in place at listed companies. As of the...

In recent years, Kuwait-based banks have faced a number of challenges, including a conservative regulatory environment and relatively slow economic expansion since the international financial downturn. With this in mind, and in an effort to shore up long-term growth prospects, many local financial institutions have invested heavily in international...

A landmark flight from Baghdad that touched down in February 2013 at Kuwait International Airport looks set to usher in a new era of stronger economic ties between the two Gulf neighbours. The resumption of direct air travel between Iraq's capital and Kuwait, which is building on a steadily rising flow of traffic between the two countries, is good...

Historically, Kuwait has played a major role in regional debt markets. The country has been the source of bond issuances of various sorts and sizes since the 1960s, making it one of the oldest bond markets in the GCC. Through the early and mid-2000s the nation’s domestic debt market grew steadily, driven primarily by government-issued debt offerings...