Financial Services

The conservative approaches to money management employed by for four Sharjah-based lenders have paid off judging by their year-end financial statements for 2010, which have recently been released.

The banking sector in Sabah – already well-managed and capitalised – seems poised for a positive performance in 2011, but consumers will also benefit from an increase in competition. With strong economic fundamentals in place on the back of high crude palm oil (CPO) prices (which tend to broadly track those of regular crude oil) and a burgeoning local tourism sector, Sabah’s financial services market is attracting growing interest from foreign players.

As a result of limited global integration, a strong reliance on domestic deposits and a risk-averse regulatory framework, Ghana’s banking sector has weathered the global financial crisis largely unscathed. In fact, most of the sector’s key indicators improved over the course of 2010.

A proposal to merge the operations of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) appears to be gaining momentum, with stock market officials discussing a plan that could result in the creation of a powerful regional bourse better positioned to compete with nearby rivals and larger international operators.

Solid economic growth bodes well for Indonesia’s insurance sector, with forecasts that insurance premium and total asset levels will increase over the medium term. It is possible, however, that many of the smaller players in the market could be squeezed as competition for clients, especially in the life segment, heats up.

Despite sluggish global market conditions, banks in Ras Al Khaimah are showing strong returns. The National Bank of RAK (RAKBANK) posted a net profit of Dh1bn ($272.3m) for 2010, a 38.1% increase over 2009, according to year-end results released on January 30.