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Banking & Finance

Banking news and finance news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

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Banking & Finance news

Lending income underpins record Q1 for Saudi banks

Three of Saudi Arabia’s five biggest banks by assets have reported record first-quarter profits after generating more income from loans and on lower operating costs. Saudi National Bank, the kingdom’s largest lender, reported a 19 percent jump in profit in the three months to March 31 to SAR6 billion ($1.6 billion), compared with the same […]

Total income at Emirates NBD jumped 11 percent year on year to AED12 billion

Emirates NBD profit slips despite strong loan growth

Net profit at Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest bank by assets, fell in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a year ago despite growth in loans and interest income. Tax paid caused the bottom line to decline more than 7 percent to AED6.2 billion ($1.7 billion) for the first three months, from AED6.7 billion a […]

A view of NBK headquarters. Customer deposits grew by 6 percent year on year to KD24 billion by the end of March 2025

National Bank of Kuwait earnings hit by corporate tax

Earnings of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the Gulf state’s largest financial institution, fell 9 percent year on year in the first quarter following the imposition of 15 percent corporate tax from January. Net profit fell to KD134 million ($435 million) from January to March, compared to KD147 million a year ago, the lender […]

ADIB says its new sukuk platform "makes ethical, fixed-income investing easier and more inclusive”

Fractional sukuk platform launched by UAE bank

Sukuk investing in the Gulf has long been the preserve of institutional and wealthy investors because of a six-figure minimum investment threshold, effectively excluding ordinary people from buying sharia-compliant bonds directly. Now though, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has launched an investment platform, Smart Sukuk, on which retail investors can buy so-called fractional sukuk for […]

Men withdraw cash from an ATM outside Qatar National Bank. Qatar's banks have the highest amount of non-resident deposits in the GCC

GCC banks unlikely to escape US tariff impact

US President Donald Trump’s imposition of additional import tariffs will trouble GCC banks, despite the bloc’s meagre non-oil exports to the United States, according to analysts. Trump’s tariff strategy, targeted principally at China but worldwide in scope, has roiled global equity markets, sent the dollar tumbling and exacerbated oil price declines. As such, “the indirect […]

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Russia's President Vladimir Putin attend a signing ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 17, 2025

Qatar and Russia set up $2bn investment fund

The sovereign funds of Qatar and Russia have created a $2 billion joint fund to invest in technology, minerals and healthcare projects. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will each invest $1 billion, a statement from the RDIF said. In 2014 the two wealth funds launched a $4 billion joint […]

Fatih Karahan, governor of Turkey's central bank, speaks during a press conference in Istanbul

Turkey raises interest rates for first time in a year

Turkey’s central bank raised its key lending rate for the first time in a year on Thursday, reversing a steady decline this year, on concerns of higher inflation in the coming months. The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) increased its one-week repo auction rate to 46 percent on April 17 from 42.5 percent, the rate […]

Donald Trump DWF crypcocurrency

Abu Dhabi investor buys $25m in Trump crypto coins

DWF Labs, an investment company based in Abu Dhabi, has bought $25 million of a cryptocurrency linked to Donald Trump. The company describes itself as a next-generation Web3 investor and cryptocurrency trader. Web3 includes concepts such as decentralisation, blockchain technologies and token-based economics. It said in a statement that it bought $25 million of World […]

Dubai's financial district

Mashreq’s sukuk offer hits $3bn despite challenging markets

Mashreq, the UAE’s fifth-largest bank by assets, said its first sukuk issued since US reciprocal tariffs were announced was oversubscribed six times. The Dubai-listed bank raised $500 million through a five-year sukuk at a profit rate of 5.03 percent per annum.  The sukuk, rated “A” by global rating agency S&P, will be listed on Euronext Dublin.  […]

IDFC First Bank is to receive a big cash injection

Warburg Pincus and Adia to invest $877m in Indian bank

India’s IDFC First Bank will raise up to 75 billion rupees ($877 million) from affiliate companies of private equity group Warburg Pincus and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund, the lender said on Thursday. IDFC First Bank will issue Warburg Pincus, an existing investor, and Adia convertible shares, which, if fully converted, will give them a combined 15 percent […]

Body Part, Hand, Person

Remittances to Egypt rise as reforms instill confidence

Remittances from Egyptian expatriates rose for 11 consecutive months following the start of economic reforms introduced in March 2024. Overseas Egyptians sent home $20 billion between July and January — the first seven months of the 2024-2025 fiscal year — an increase of 81 percent from $11 billion a year ago, according to the Central […]

A closed bar in Istanbul. Turkey's economy has struggled with a depreciating lira and high interest rates

Turkey’s central bank records second-biggest ever loss

The Central Bank of Turkey lost 700 billion lira ($18 billion) last year, its second biggest loss ever after a record 2023. The loss came as the central bank made efforts to defend the Turkish lira while at the same time offering depositors higher interest rates on the local currency versus other currencies, paving the […]

The offices of Bank Muscat on Markzi Mutrah Al Tijari street in the Ruwi district of Muscat, Oman, on 7 August 2017.

Bank Muscat’s Q1 profit rises as the sector consolidates

First quarter net income at Bank Muscat, Oman’s largest bank by assets, rose 8 percent on higher interest revenue from both conventional and Islamic sharia-compliant activities. The rise comes as rival Sohar International Bank, the country’s second-largest bank by assets, seeks to take over a smaller rival, raising concerns about competition in the Omani banking […]

Architecture, Building, Office Building

Abu Dhabi fines crypto company $13m for ‘serious’ violations

Regulators at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have fined crypto payment processor Hayvn, its former chief executive, and related entities nearly $13 million for violations and misconduct. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) investigation found “serious” breaches and misconduct by three related Hayvn companies and former CEO Christopher Flinos. A total fine of $8.9 million was […]

Africa's digital payments economy is expected to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2030

Morocco’s PayTic raises $4m for Africa expansion

PayTic, a Moroccan startup, has raised $4 million in a funding round and aims to expand into Africa, it said in a press statement on social media. PayTic, which has a presence in Europe and North America, works with banks and card issuers to simplify back-end processes such as chargebacks whereby a customer disputes a […]

An Al Ansari outlet. The company is exploring more acquisition opportunities in the GCC

Al Ansari says BFC buyout will lift revenues by a fifth 

Dubai-listed Al Ansari Financial Services expects a 13 percent rise in profits and a 20 percent increase in revenues following its acquisition of BFC Group Holdings, a competing money exchange business, the company CEO has said. “After completing the BFC deal, we have become the largest exchange company in the UAE and Bahrain and the […]

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Qatar is investing heavily in the country

Indonesia and Qatar to set up $4bn joint fund

Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia and Qatar Investment Authority will set up a joint fund worth $4 billion to invest in so-called domestic priority sectors in the southeast Asian country. These include food and energy security, downstream processing, digital infrastructure, healthcare and tourism, Indonesian state-run Antara news agency reported, quoting Danantara chief investment officer […]

Last year’s Dubai floods, submerged roads, homes and airports

Dubai floods third most costly disaster of 2024, says insurer

The financial hit from last year’s Dubai floods, when the heaviest rains in the UAE’s history submerged roads, homes and airports, made it the third most costly disaster in the world in 2024, one insurance company has announced. Hannover Re, the world’s third-largest reinsurer, booked €138 million ($150 million) of losses from the April 2024 […]