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’Deference, Dubai style
From Bloomberg on Monday afternoon:
Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum opened the world’s tallest tower today and renamed the building Burj Khalifa after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
CDS report: Greece and Dubai Continue to Drive Markets
Otis Casey of Markit wrote this CDS report
Early trading saw the Markit iTraxx indices and stock markets higher as investors were heartened to see the last minute Abu Dhabi bailout of Dubai. The Markit iTraxx Europe index tightened by more than 2 bp to 79.49 bp. The Markit iTraxx HiVol was 2 bp tighter at 118.33 bp while the Markit iTraxx Crossover finished at 476.30 bp,
S&P and Fitch to Dubai: ‘not so fast…’
Ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch have issued responses to Dubai’s surprise repayment of the now infamous $4.1bn Nakheel sukuk.
And just in case the emirate was labouring under any misconceptions,
Nakheel says it will pay/ Abu Dhabi rides to rescue
From Nasdaq Dubai on Monday morning:
14 Dec 2009 – 09:05:07 Nakheel Development Limited – Announcement Nakheel confirms that it will honour all obligations related to the 2009 Nakheel Development Limited Sukuk using funds that will be provided by the Dubai Financial Support Fund.
The shifting sands of UAE bank capital
Here’s some useful data from ratings agency Fitch – a breakdown of how the capital of banks in the United Arab Emirates is likely to be impacted by the Dubai World debt restructuring.
It’s basically an updated version of Fitch’s capital sensitivity test for UAE banks,
CDS report: Dubai has more in common with Latvia than Iceland
Gavan Nolan of Markit wrote this CDS report
European credit and equity markets suffered a torrid session today as the debacle in Dubai sparked a fresh bout of risk aversion. The Markit iTraxx Europe index ended the day at 89.5bp,
UAE post-holiday hit
As expected, the Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock exchanges have been hit with a wave of selling on their first day open since the Dubai debacle broke.
But with brokers having predicted the indices to be suspended limit down,
Haircuts in Dubai
So the United Arab Emirates has sort-of-but-not-quite stepped in to save Dubai — pledging liquidity support for UAE banks.
At the same time, however, speculation over just what sort of debt restructuring lies in wait for Nakheel bond investors continues apace.
UAE push to head off debts damage
The United Arab Emirates on Sunday stepped in to shore up its banks and head off any potential capital flight as the nation’s authorities attempted to counter concerns over Dubai’s debt problems, the FT said.
UAE: ‘the best banking model to weather the financial crisis’
Statement from the UAE central bank:
Central Bank of the UAE announced today that it stands behind UAE banks and branches of foreign banks operating in the UAE .
Central Bank has issued a Notice to UAE banks and branches of foreign banks operating in the UAE,
CDS report: Dubai contagion overdone?
Gavan Nolan of Markit wrote this CDS report
Last week we asked is “Greece the only sovereign on a slippery slope?” We did not have to wait long for our answer. But it did not come from the less creditworthy regions of the eurozone,
Abu Dubai? Pah!
Wall Street was quick to shrug off news of the imperilled emirate of Dubai on Friday. But then quite a few senior market types were away for the long Thanksgiving weekend, and trading was due to close at lunch time.
One emirate for all, none for one
Fears over Dubai’s ability to service its debts led Abu Dhabi finally to stage a marked response at the weekend. In a ‘lender of last resort’-type move the emirate bought $10bn of Dubai bonds to help its neighbour raise funds.
Two tales of a city — and Dubai’s luxury car giveaway
Could this be the city of uber-luxury hotels, the place with a reputation for huge salaries and extravagant living?
As highlighted in a (much-emailed) report in The Times on Friday about abandoned luxury cars in Dubai,
Atlantis, we have a problem
It might have been obvious, but it appears not all is well in the United Arab Emirates. Who would have thought a region so dependent on a building boom could be exposed to a slowdown during a global credit squeeze?
The latest bad news is focused on Dubai.
Banking bubble
A ten year retrospective on Citi:
Citi’s share price is the lowest it’s been since 1998, currently at about $22.18. That makes it a pretty good proxy for the whole mortgage-debt saga.
Broader issues of banking meltdown aside for a moment,
A memo: guide to the Middle East
From the editors,
FAO: All newsreaders, bizcasters and researchers
Re: Apple Dubai
It has come to our attention that there have recently been several holes in our coverage of the Middle Eastern financial situation.
SWFs: Watch out, the force is with them
It seems barely a day goes by now without news of one sovereign wealth fund or another buying yet another chunk of western financial or corporate heritage. In the last 24 hours alone, we’ve heard about Abu Dhabi’s rather lucrative Citigroup deal and Dubai’s swoop on a stake thought to represent nearly 5 per cent of Sony.
The stealthy rise of the sovereign wealth fund
Wall Street might be forgiven for thinking that this whole Middle East, sovereign wealth fund business has rather crept up on them. One minute American financial institutions reign supreme. The next they’re flogging off stakes at eye-watering prices to little-known investors.