The Middle East

Bahrain’s sharia-compliant financial institutions enter 2017 after weathering the tumultuous economic environment and changing regulatory landscape of the previous year. Despite the challenges, the kingdom’s Islamic banks continue to expand in the domestic market and beyond, while activity in the newly reinforced sharia-compliant insurance sector is well positioned to continue along a...

The region’s exchanges have operated in adverse economic conditions since the decline of oil prices began in the second half of 2014, and the Bahrain Bourse is no exception. However, the apparent stabilisation of global oil prices in 2016 has brought a similar firming of the main index and, after a year of shrinking stock prices, some increasingly attractive valuations. The larger story of...

Bahrain’s banking sector has managed two years of a challenging low oil-price environment without seeing significant deterioration in its financial stability indicators. Conventional lenders and Islamic financiers operating within the kingdom’s famously robust regulatory framework have also managed to maintain profitability throughout this period thanks to efficiency drives and continued...

The kingdom of Bahrain has thrived as one of the Gulf’s financial centres for decades. Despite increasing competition from emerging financial centres in the region, its advanced regulatory framework, educated workforce and relatively low-cost environment means that it remains an attractive platform for companies engaging with the wider GCC and beyond. The recent decline in oil prices, however...

The kingdom of Bahrain has been ruled as a constitutional monarchy since 2002 under the leadership of Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The country pioneered the Middle East’s oil production in 1932, thus establishing the region’s initial framework for the petroleum industry. The energy sector remains a pillar of the kingdom’s economy, accounting for the bulk of government revenues but a...