Middle East
Guardian of the gates
Simon Gray, director of supervision at the Dubai Financial Services Authority, talks to Richard Jory about the regulatory infrastructure in place for governing institutional, and more recently retail, structured products
Axis of AML
Countries in the Middle East and Asia have a history of battling against money laundering and terrorist funding. Now the financial crisis has brought it home to regulators and banks that more needs to be done to stem the rising tide of money laundering,…
Net results
A master agreement for over-the-counter Islamic derivatives is in the final review stages and could be published as early as next month. After years of debate, the difficult issue of close-out netting appears to be close to resolution. By Alastair Marsh
Sharia and sharia alike
Opinion on whether derivatives comply with sharia has split scholars in Islamic financial markets. Mohamad Nedal Alchaar, secretary-general of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, talks to Alastair Marsh about its…
Filling the Gulf
The Middle East
The wa'ad on the Street
The Islamic concept of wa'ad has been used as a linchpin for a variety of structured products in recent years. Priya Uberoi, Rahul Chatterji and Dany Bidar consider the role of wa'ad in the evolution of Islamic derivatives, outlining the essential…
Middle East should be cautious, urges Bahrain regulator
Daily news headlines
A narrowing gulf
Many Middle Eastern nations are keen to implement Basel II, and larger banks have been stepping up efforts to develop an op risk framework. But smaller banks are being hindered by a shortage of resources and experienced staff, as Victoria Pennington…
IMF and Islamic organisation address market risks in Dubai conference
Middle East conference calls for stronger collaboration
Middle East gets new consultancy tool
Consultancy launched Middle East product for Basel
US energy prices: in line for a fall?
A combination of concerns in the second half of January 2003 has boosted US oil and natural gas prices to levels not seen since the winter of 2000/2001. Will the higher prices stick? Logical Information Machines examines cause and effect
Crude oil takes a double hit
Mark Powell of GlobalView Software looks at how crude prices are being affected by the impending war with Iraq and the general strike in Venezuela