Banking & Business Review Nov 09

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW October 2009 1

EDItoR

K Raveendran [email protected]

coNSUltING EDItoR

Matein Khalid [email protected]

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Sankaranarayanan [email protected]

DIREctoR FINANcE

Anandi Ramachandran [email protected]

GENERAl MANAGER

Radhika Natu [email protected]

EDItoRIAlStaff Writer Ambily Vijaykumar [email protected]

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Vol. VI. No. 45 November 2009

K raveendran

editor’s note

Not bad at allAs if the global financial crisis and the real

estate bubble were not enough, the UAE banks have been dealt yet another blow, making

the recovery process even more difficult. According to the latest assessment by the Central Bank, the UAE banks, both local and foreign included, have a combined exposure of $2.9 billion to Saudi Arabia’s troubled business groups of Saad and Algosaibi.

More than the amount involved, what makes the problem more biting is the fact that it has surfaced at a time when banks are already struggling to come out of a crisis of unprecedented proportions. The new burden has necessitated a significant increase in the level of provisioning, making the books of the banks to look further grim. The bad debts have surely affected the banks’ crisis management strategies.

Despite all these drawbacks, however, the UAE banks have held on to their task quite creditably. According to the latest assessment, the combined profits of all banks in the country are expected to be around Dh20 billion for 2009, which is Dh6.8 billion lower than the previous year’s level.

That is, of course, a big drop. But considering the difficult conditions through which the banking industry has gone through in recent times, what the banks have managed to put together in terms of surplus is indeed remarkable. Let’s hope that there are no more shocks waiting to pounce on the hapless industry.

2 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW November 2009

CON

TEN

TS 8 COVER STORY

Stuffing the roomsHotels are going the extra mile to woo customers

Selling through the brandRates do the talkingLiquid rate is the new buzzword

22 BANKS

Grim numbersBad debts eat into banking sector profitability

4 SURVEYS

33 REAL ESTATE

Some light, finallyConfidence levels are increasing across region

27 TRYST wiTh LUxURY

Card companies target market’s upper end

35 iSLAMiC FiNANCE

Over $9 billion sukuk issues

29 MOMENT OF TRUTh

Banks are in a fight for their lives

38 iNTERNATiONAL

Pendulum has swung

RAK Hospital, the 65 bedded multispeciality hospital in Ras Al Khaimah is the destination for premium healthcare & premium hospitality. The hospital provides top of the line diagnostics and treatment

facilities led by a team of highly qualified doctors. The hospital is managed by Sonnenhof Swiss Health.


SURVEYS & FINDINGS

70% of Dubai residents yet to ride Metro

A YouGov survey among Dubai residents reveals that a little over 70 per cent of the people have not travelled on Dubai Metro trains even for once. The survey which sampled 801 respond-

ents showed that only 1 per cent used the Metro on a daily basis. Those who travelled on the train 2-3 times in a week constituted 4 per cent of the respondents while five per cent said they travelled once a week. Some 20 per cent said they have used the Metro, but less frequently than once a week.

Now coming to the purpose for which the travelers used the Metro, 62 per cent said they travelled on the train just to get an experience of the Metro ride. Some 15 per cent of those who travelled said they were commuting to work while 10 per cent said they took the train for business-re-lated travel. Interestingly, 37 per cent of the Metro riders

The YouGov lifestyle survey revealed some preferences by supermarket and hypermarket shoppers. According

to the results, Carrefour was the most popular supermarket among the survey respondents, closely followed by Lulu Hy-permarket. Over 80 per cent of the respondents shopped at Carrefour while 57 per cent also bought provisions and other household items from Lulu Hypermarkets. Union Cooperative was in the third position with 43 per cent while 35 per cent also shopped at Spinneys. Respondents who bought their provisions from Choithram were 24 per cent.

were visitors of various shopping malls. Another 20 per cent used Dubai’s new mode of transport to travel around the city. Students going to schools and colleges constituted only 3 per cent of the travelers.

When asked if they would use the Metro regularly once all the stations are ready and functional, 21 per cent said they would, while 19 per cent indicated categorically they would not. Some 44 per cent felt they might travel on the Metro once it becomes fully functional, with 23 per cent in-dicating they were undecided.

Another interesting result from the survey is that half of the respondents do not believe that the opening of the Metro has resulted in a reduction in the road traffic. Only 4 per cent said they could feel an easing of traffic, while 23 per cent believed some reduction in the road traffic was visible.

Supermarket preferencesInterestingly, among the shoppers at a particular supermar-

ket, the highest proportion of those who brought goods every week was in the case of Lulu Hypermarkets, with 38 per cent

visiting the store every week. The comparable figures for other su-permarkets were 29 per cent for Carrefour and Al Maya and 26 per cent for Islamic Cooperative.

Those who bought at their preferred supermarkets for the best price included 58 per cent in the case of Carrefour, closely fol-lowed by 45 per cent for Lulu. A little over 40 per cent of shoppers at Union Coop were driven by the belief that the store offered the best price.

5BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW November 2009

A recent YouGov lifestyle poll, collected from a sur-vey conducted in the first week of October by in-

terviewing 984 residents, revealed that 68 per cent of the UAE residents use Etisalat as their sole mobile serv-ice provider, as opposed to 6 per cent who indicated Du. The remaining 26 per cent said they use both. When asked to indicate which they consider to be their main service provider (the service provider whose services they use most of the time), Etisalat’s figure bumped up 11 points to 79 per cent. “While these figures aren’t surprising at first glance,” says Amir Bozorgzadeh, Business Development Associ-ate at YouGov Siraj, ”it is when we look at a question further along in the survey when we discover some-thing far more interesting.”

The UAE ranks as the eighth most optimistic country in the world

in the third quarter of 2009. At 102 points, the UAE enjoys more consum-er confidence than the global average of 86 – representing a rise of 13 points over six months in the latest Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, conducted in 54 markets during September and Oc-tober 2009. The global average also rose 9 points since April 2009. Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Index tracked consumer confidence, major concerns and spending habits among more than 30,500 internet users in 54 countries. In the latest round of the survey, Vietnam posted the largest consumer confidence increase in the 2nd half of 2009 compared to first half, up 24 points from 85 to 109 index points, followed by Hong Kong (+23 points) and Chile (+22 points). India, Indonesia and Norway continued to top the glo-bal rankings for the most confident nations, while the most pessimistic nations were Latvia and Japan. Con-sumer confidence rose in 45 out of the 52 countries com-pared to six months ago (Ukraine and Romania were recently added to the survey). The Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index hit its lowest point of 77 index points, six months ago, but as massive stimulus plans began to take effect around the world during the second quarter, consumer confidence slowly began to recover. The other two Middle East and North African (MENA) countries included in the survey, Egypt and Saudi Ara-

bia, are less optimis-tic with the index dropping 3 points in Egypt (71) and 1 point in Saudi Arabia (78) since April 2009. Some 67 percent of Indians, 53 percent

of Vietnamese and 54 percent of Chileans expect that the global recession will end in the next 12 months. Globally, the economy and job security remained con-sumers’ top concerns, but the level of these concerns has dropped in the last three months, with declines of five and eight index points respectively. In the UAE, 24 per cent of consumers rated job security as a top con-cern (compared to 36 per cent in April 2009). About 72 per cent of the nation’s consumers have changed their spending habits to save on household expenses, even though more than 65 percent of UAE consumers said that their state of personal finance is excellent or good for the next 12 months. While global consumers continue to voice concerns about job security and the economy, many have started to focus on other issues. Concerns about work / life bal-ance and health have increased since the last survey. In UAE, 29 per cent of consumers cite finding a work/life balance a concern compared to April 2009 (22 per cent) and 17 per cent are concerned about health versus 6 percent in the six months ago, an indication that UAE consumers’ focus on economy and recession is begin-ning to subside.

Etisalat by far

UAE consumers more confident

When respondents were asked if in the future they would consider switching from their current mobile phone service provider 57 per cent indicated they would probably or definitely do so. In fact, 22 per cent indicated that they would ‘definitely’ consider the change. “This is certainly a clear signal that albeit assump-tions that Etisalat maintains a strong, monopoly-like, position in the market, there is apt room for du to ag-gressively take market share should its marketing mix continue to exploit the current gap in consumer loy-alty,” says Bozorgzadeh. “Etisalat, for its part, will have to stand steady on its toes and summon up innovative approaches to bolster its current position at the top of the hill.”


eHosting DataFort and BCM Institute Launch Indus-try Survey Report on Status of Region’s Business Con-tinuity Management

An industry survey conducted by eHosting Da-taFort, managed IT and advisory services provider, and Business Continuity Management (BCM) Insti-tute, revealed that almost 70 per cent of the region’s organizations have not put in place a robust Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity Management (BCM) programme, despite growing major disruptions and disasters caused to businesses in the region.

Participants in the BCM survey perceived failure of computer hardware/software and data loss as the highest risk to business disruption, with 21 per cent of the executives stating that natural disasters such as storms, floods and earthquakes were of particular concern.

eHosting DataFort, who is a member of TECOM Investments, conducted the Business Continuity Man-agement survey among organizations across the Mid-dle East - including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qa-tar, Oman, Kuwait and Jordan. Over 75 organizations across the Middle East, including banking and finance, IT, retail, media and entertainment, utilities, oil and gas and manufacturing participated in the survey.

While almost 60 per cent of participants claimed they had documented a continuity management plan

for their organizations, they are not however, part of a fully-fledged BCM programme.

The types of business continuity planning that companies have taken include the provision of an al-ternative work site in the event one location is una-vailable and an automated communication with the company’s continuity management team. Having an established relationship with external agencies in-cluding the local police, fire stations and hospitals is another form of business continuity planning.

Nearly 38 per cent of the respondents revealed hav-ing more than 20 years of experience in dealing with business continuity planning one way or the other, al-though 40 per cent stated they did not have a specific individual to head or coordinate business continuity management in the organization.

Detailed results of the survey have indicated that a number of significant business disruptions in the past year were caused by network failures (45 per cent), fol-lowed by power failures (20 per cent), manmade dis-ruptions including theft, hacking attempts, sabotage, poor judgment (11 per cent), and natural disasters such as sandstorms, floods and earthquakes (8 per cent). The economic downturn has further contrib-uted to significant corporate business disruptions due to non-premptive measures by the corporate houses, according to respondents.

Gulf less affected

Although businesses in the Gulf have been hit hard by the economic downturn, they are less negatively af-

fected than others by changes in consumer demand and global commodity prices, the ICAEW Global Enterprise Survey revealed.

The 2009 ICAEW Global Enterprise Survey measured the impact of the economic downturn on businesses in five regions across the world; the Gulf, the UK, EU, Asia (Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore) and the US.

The Survey found that Gulf businesses were the most positive in their growth expectations, with two-thirds planning annual turnover growth in excess of five per-cent, ahead of all other regions. Additionally, most Gulf businesses regard their domestic regulatory and taxation environment as business-friendly (87 per cent), much in line with those in Asia, but ahead of those in the US and, particularly, Europe. Gulf businesses are however more

likely than those in other regions to witness high short-term borrowing costs.

Those Gulf businesses affected by the downturn an-ticipate, typically, that it will continue for another one to two years (47 per cent) -- half way into 2010 or 2011 – much in line with views in the other regions. However, 40 per cent of them were expecting the end of its effects within the next year, a little less optimistic than those in Asia (nearly 50 per cent) but more optimistic than those in the EU and US (around 30 per cent).

Gulf businesses are generally positive about the ben-efits of the globalisation of markets and are looking to expand their international trading activities. However, they see corruption as the greatest barrier to interna-tional expansion and are also more likely than those in other regions to cite access to finance as a barrier to glo-balisation.

Most businesses lack in business continuity planning


More than half of the region’s employers—52 per cent-- are planning to recruit over the next few months, as the region picks up following the global economic downturn- 26 per cdnt definitely hiring and 26 per cent probably hiring, according to the new Jobs Index study conducted by the region’s number one job site Bayt.com, in conjunction with YouGov Siraj. In the UAE, a quarter of the respondents said that their organisations would definitely be hiring in the next three months, and another 23 per cent said they would probably be hiring. Just under a fifth, 19 per cent said they probably or definitely would not be hir-ing in the next quarter. Around the Middle East and North Africa region, countries reported varying propensity to hire as part of the Jobs Index. More than a third of respondents in Oman, 34 per cent, said they would definitely be hiring in the next three months. This was closely fol-lowed by Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, where 31 per cent and 30 per cent respectively said their organisations will definitely be recruiting new staff in the coming months. Around the Gulf, the countries largely varied in terms of their intentions to hire more staff. In Qatar, 55 pre cent said they would definitely or probably hire in the coming three months, compared to 53 per cent in Ku-wait and just 47 per cent in Bahrain. The figures sug-gest that organisations in Saudi Arabia are currently faring the best during this current economic cycle. The Jobs Index (JI) is conducted to gauge perceptions of job availability and hiring, to identify job trends and to provide an understanding of the key skill sets and qualifications required in the Middle East job market. When asked how many jobs would be available in the next three months, 42 per cent of respondents said that there would be less than five jobs ‘on offer’ for job seekers in their organisations. Another 24 per cent said that their organisations would be offering around six to 10 jobs, while at the other end of the spectrum, just 3 per cent of the respondents said that more than 100 jobs would be available. In terms of the jobs that would be available in the next quarter, junior members of staff are the most likely to be employed; 22 per cent of organisations said that they would be looking to employ junior executives, followed by 21 per cent who said that said they would be looking to hire on an executive level. According to the study, organisations around the Middle East favour employing staff that are graduates in the fields of engineering or business management: 21 per cent of organisations agreed that these two were the most important disciplines. The Gulf countries

UAE employers ready to start hiringalso showed a significant preference for graduates in these areas. Less important qualifications according to the study were in law and hospitality, with just 5 per cent and 4 per cent of organisations respectively agree-ing that these are important when selecting staff. Good communication skills in English and Arabic were clearly advantageous among the region’s organ-isations when selecting a new employee: 60 per cent said that these skills were most desirable when choos-ing potential candidates. Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were the countries that placed most emphasis on these bilingual skills, with 71 per cent and 69 per cent re-spectively citing them as the clear skill priority. In the UAE, just 55 per cent of employers stated that English and Arabic language skills were important; while be-ing a cooperative and helpful team player and possess-ing good leadership skills were all similarly important traits in new recruits. All of the Gulf countries, with the exception of Qa-tar, came across as optimistic for the future in terms of projected capacity to hire. Following Saudi Arabia’s positive lead, 38 per cent in Bahrain and 34 per cent in Kuwait said they will definitely be hiring next year, compared to Qatar’s total of 31 per cent – the lowest figure among all the surveyed countries. Notably, re-spondents in Algeria (45 per cent), Jordan and Tunisia (35 per cent each) all said they will be hiring in a year’s time, suggesting significant predicted growth in these countries. When asked how they rate their current country of residence as a job market compared to those around the rest of the region, respondents in the UAE were the most positive about their country: 49 per cent said it was much more attractive than other countries. Posi-tivity about current country of residence was also felt in KSA (44 per cent) and Qatar (38 per cent). Asked which industries the respondents feel are at-tracting or retaining top talent in their country of residence today, the majority agreed it was either banking and finance (32 per cent) or telecommunica-tions (31 per cent). “This is most likely as a result of the perception that banking and finance and telecoms positions are the highest paid in the region, and as a direct result, manage to retain their well-paid talent,” explained Longworth. Data for the October 2009 Jobs Index was collected online between 1 and 21 October 2009 with 5,084 ex-ecutive managers/HR managers/senior officials from the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Pakistan. Males and females aged over 18 years old, of all nationalities, were included in the survey.

COVER STORY

Stuffing the roomsHotels are going the extra mile to woo customers

as occupancy levels dip

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW November 20098


Over 50,000 more hotel rooms are expected to be added to Dubai’s in-ventory in the coming

years. Some say it is a clear indica-tion that the hotel industry is poised for further growth. Others cite this as a part of efforts to make ‘afford-able’ hotel accommodation available to visitors. But the industry insiders are agreed on one thing: interest in developing luxury brands is fizzling out and it is giving way to a keen focus on the mid-market segment that is poised to grow in the years to come.

The switch is the result of dipping occupancy rates. Top brands like Ju-meirah concede that they had seen their initial 2009 occupancy rates slip to the 70s before some massive pro-motional activities helped them bring these back to the 90s again. The problem was further complicated by the fact that the Dubai hotel room rates were unduly high. The average hotel room rate in Dubai has been measured to about $226 per night, which is on par with destinations like New York. The rate, the industry expects will be maintained between $190 and $200 in the coming year.

Average rates are not, however, a reliable indicator of the well-being of the sector, say industry insiders. You could have the rates running high despite having very low occu-pancy rates hence the average rate is a rather misleading figure. It is also no secret that tourism, which plays a major role in the Dubai economy, has taken a massive hit since the on-set of the financial crisis. Hotels that form the backbone of the tourism in-dustry have hence been affected ad-versely. The hospitality industry on the whole seems to have reconciled to the fact that when it comes to oc-cupancy levels, it would be over-am-bitious to expect a revisit to levels of 2008. “Sixty five is the new ninety.” This is the new standard for measur-ing the health of the hotel industry.

During the boom, occupancy lev-els were maintained in the 90s with-out much effort. The overflow in one hotel would spill over to the remain-

ing hotels and everyone benefited. But that stopped once the footfall dried up and even maintaining rates in the 70s became a tough task.

Though occupancy rates are a good indicator, it is the revenue per available room or RevPAR that the in-dustry uses to decide the direction in which it is heading. With an average drop of about 35 per cent in RevPAR since 2008, Dubai still managed to outdo places like London and Hong Kong this year. While hoteliers at-tribute it to the Dubai market being ‘resilient’, they add a word of caution that the industry here would further continue the ‘trend of adjusting these rates’ in 2010 to be in line with des-tinations like London and Paris. The rates are expected to stand between $140 and $150 per available room.

According to industry sources, the adjustment was long overdue since “Dubai was not a mature market”. In a mature market the demand is not

driven as much by foreign tourists as it is by the domestic market and that was something lacking in the desti-nation. According to these sources, the supply did not correspond to the nature of the demand and hence the thrust of the future will be geared to-wards developing the three stars and the four stars rather than an overrid-ing focus towards the five star and other super luxury segments. “There is increasing emphasis on diversifica-tion of the portfolio,” says Siegfried Nierhaus, Director of Future Open-ings Middle East and Africa, Rezidor Hotel Group.

“With construction prices still go-ing down, we are telling owners who have the money that this is the time to invest. Of course they have to look at the location and also the market that they are trying to target. So it is for them to choose whether it is the five, four or three star. We have signed two hotel deals in the mid-

Top brands concede that they had seen their initial 2009 occupancy rates slip to the 70s before some massive promotional activities helped them bring these back to the 90s again

By Ambily Vijaykumar


market segment and I think this is the marked change in the business that people are looking at four star properties as well and not chasing the five star segments blindly,” he adds.

The reality was very different a couple of years back, when own-ers were only interested in luxury brands. It was a ‘take it or leave it’ scenario and operators also did not hesitate to take the risk to a certain extent and move ahead because they had the faith that their system would deliver. In contrast, owners have become more “flexible now” on the kind of property that they would want. The willingness of owners to go towards rational investment is way higher than it used to be two years ago. The key feature of mature markets is that the mid-scale repre-sents two-thirds of the total avail-ability and the luxury brands form only one-third of it. It has been a re-verse ratio in the UAE on the whole and when the market here matures it has to be on par with the rest of

the world. A case in point is the opening of

the Express hotel by Holiday Inn. The local Rotana group has also stepped out of five stars into the three stars segment with the Centro Hotels targeting the “budget con-scious executive,” which the group thinks is an increasingly important market in the Middle East. The Cen-tro Hotels concept is specifically de-signed to appeal to large corporate entities, small and medium business owners and individual traveler.

Like low cost airlines, budget ho-tels are also expected to give every-one involved in the industry “value for money”. Giving value for invest-ments is also the reason behind a new trend that observers believe will be the future of the hotel in-

dustry for some time to come. The trend is that of conversion. It is a well-known fact that Dubai has been facing trouble with occupancy levels in their ready properties since the crisis. This has meant that owners of several buildings that were built as apartments are now approaching ho-tel management groups to see if they would be interested in running them as a residence.

“Existing properties are show-ing keen interest in attaching them-selves to an international brand and there is a huge demand for that in the market,” says Siegfried Nierhaus. The reason behind this trend is that international hotel operators have the necessary experience and re-sources to be able to tide through an economic recession, compared

In a mature market the demand is not driven as much by foreign tourists as it is by the domestic market


to the case of a small operator. Op-erators who are currently running those properties are either less expe-rienced or don’t have the system to carry on in a crisis situation like this. The appetite for conversions is being seen in places like Abu Dhabi and Doha. Also with the tilt towards en-hancing marketing and sales efforts, international brands have become the chosen ones.

This phenomenon is not just re-stricted to residential buildings alone. It extends even to hotel construc-tions that are close to opening but are keen on branding themselves. Recently the Rezidor Hotel Group converted a hotel in Saudi Arabia to a Radisson within four months and the group is of the firm belief that the fu-ture for the hotel industry is heading in that direction; their confidence in backing the conversion trend is also being built by the fact that one such development in Dubai has been a success. This has also prompted the group to diversify the portfolio and branch into hotel apartments. The group says it is negotiating “a few properties in Dubai” for conversion at the moment.

Sweeping changes in the industry has also meant redoing of roles for various players involved in a prop-erty. Whether it is the developer or the buyer, the operator or the service provider, everyone has had to revisit their respective positions to assess where their market is and who is their target customer. This has had an inverse effect with sellers not will-ing to negotiate a deal with a buyer because they want to get the best of rates, buyers not willing to part with money because of the expectation of very high returns and the operator who is keen on entering the proper-ty to manage it but unable to do so.

But now even service providers, who earlier would walk away with a hefty pay package in lieu of a defined job, are playing the role of mediators; an example being a con-struction and property consultancy firm bringing in developers, inves-

tors and operators onto one table for a distressed four star project.

“As a service provider, we really have to go all the way,” says Shaad Heerah, Vice-President Hospitality, MENA region, Cyril Sweett Interna-tional. “What is happening is that things are getting more personalised and it is all about relationship man-agement. Service providers have to come up with innovative solutions, where we are sitting with investors and hotel owners on board and it is not easy to crack the deal and the challenge is to be able to do it. Our approach has become one of a doc-tor who listens and then facilitates,” Shaad elaborates.

Service providers are also playing facilitators for the growing trend to-wards budget hotels. They say that is the need of the hour rather than hav-

ing empty ready proper-ties that would not drive occupancy rates if they are taken over by luxury brands. The industry be-lieves that Dubai is slow-ly shedding its image as an expensive destination and so through the cri-sis, with rates correcting themselves, the emirate has succeed in attract-ing a new clientele. Ex-isting hotels that have been hit hard by the tumbling numbers have also had to pull up their socks. Innovative meth-ods of not just operat-ing but also budgeting, marketing and customer service have become the hallmark of the hotel in-

dustry in the UAE over the past twelve months.

“They have taken off the excess chocolates from the dessert,” said Paul Mcpherson, the Chief Development Officer of Jumeirah Group. When the group was faced with a dip in occupancy rates at the beginning of the year, they had to revisit their pro-grams including their visa program, working with the DTCM (Dubai De-partment of Tourism and Commerce Marketing) as well as their loyalty program and all that helped them in getting back into the 90s bracket for their beach properties.

With boom time average rates peaking at Dh3000, the group says it had enough financial cushion for “a safe landing and recovery” when the crisis struck. Rates, however, have also played the spoiler on several ac-counts. Considering that customers

The key feature of mature markets is that the mid-scale represents two-thirds of the total availability and the luxury brands form only one-third; it has been a reverse ratio in the UAE


have become more internet-savvy, sitting down to compare rates and also make their booking just in time for the travel, this has put further pressure on room rates.

Resulting from this newfound cus-tomer tool is the introduction of the fluid rates into the leisure segments. Travelers who earlier used to book their destinations and accommoda-tions months in advance have now narrowed down the time to either weeks or days. Fluid rates help ho-tels in boosting occupancy rates dur-ing times of lean footfall. The liquid rates were always in operation for visitors who walked into the hotel on a non-contracted business. The flip side is that for an international tour operator having non-contracted rates does not work since it does not help a hotel brand position itself in

the market. Frequency of repeat customers

has also dropped making customer behaviour study an arduous task for hotel operators. The drop in fre-quency is a result of the nature of the customer travel in the post-crisis market. Events are a major source for customers for the industry. It not only assures higher occupancy rates but also pre-contracted room rates. With companies shifting focus to trimming their expenditure, there is a change in the profile of the cus-tomers visiting hotels. So earlier if a company sent ten employees includ-ing its President and VPs, now the President chooses not to travel at all. This puts less stress on the coffers of the organization, since junior execu-tives will cost less to accommodate than the higher ups.

Plunging rates have been a real-ity, but also a cause of concern for hotels, which say that putting undue pressure on rates will only damage the reputation of a destination like the UAE and convert it into a “cheap option” and not necessarily an “af-fordable option”.

Hotel giants complain that some tour operators did try to drive the place down to a “50 dollar” destina-tion and that did have a negative im-pact on the rates, but it is not good in the long run. What lower rates fail to do sometimes is give the hotel opera-tor an edge in a market where every-one is shedding rates. The newfound buzzword, customer service and satisfaction, then forms the fulcrum around which hotels now operate their sales and marketing activities as well as their customer service ap-proach. Whether it is a regular cus-tomer or a new one, the endeavour is to “add a personal touch” to the stay.

Over and above the room rent, customers also spend money on oth-er things during their stay at the ho-tel. This has become the focus area for a few hotels that are now going the whole hog and giving these items for free. They assure that there are no hidden costs involved in this. De-pending upon whether a customer is on a family visit or on business trav-el, the offers are being modified. A family is given free breakfast while a businessman on travel, who does not care much about a morning snack, is being given free internet facilities.

Individual travelers are being lured with personalized offers while corporate clients are being shown le-nience when it comes to footing the bill. “If a company is going through a financially tough time and they have been one of our loyal customers, we help them by bending our credit rules and regulations and allowing more credit time to pay their bills,” elaborates Naeem Darkazally, Area Director of Marketing and Communi-cations, Rotana, Dubai and Northern Emirates.

Staying on the radar is also a cru-cial aspect for ensuring that there is steady business flowing in. That has

Whether it is the developer or the buyer, the operator or the service provider, everyone has had to revisit their respective positions to assess where their market is and who their target customer is


prompted many hotels to enter tie-ups with leading banks in the UAE to keep up their image in the custom-ers’ eye. Many have forged joint mar-keting strategies with banks to in-crease visibility and boost customer interest. Co-branding is helping both these sectors to find a comparatively strong platform from where they can reach out to a larger audience and rebuild themselves.

The industry feels this is not the time to swim against the current; what is probably needed is to opti-mize available resources and be in-novative with marketing and sales activities. One such innovative tech-nique that is working for several hotel groups is the ‘request upon ar-rival’ program. Under this program, clients can request for certain items to be made available in their room or can request an upgrade to a dif-ferent kind of accommodation even before they arrive at the hotel. So if a person has a reservation, all he has to do is to go on the net and make the request and those items will be made available to the person upon arrival. This scheme works for peo-ple who know they would be arriv-ing late at night or early in the morn-ing and would want to either have their dinner or breakfast available when they arrive.

Key customers are the true ben-eficiaries of the industry’s new-found need to hold on to existing custom-ers for the fear of losing them out to competitors. This has led many top players to aggressively tap the online market. For instance, a lead-ing hotel brand has a system of e-confirmation. The system, the group says, is becoming very popular with their customers. The new addition is called the ‘virtual-concierge’ that gives e-confirmation to a customer travelling to the country as they ap-proach their travel date. The cus-tomer is given options for booking a limousine for instance or informa-tion about the weather in the city of travel or getting a restaurant reserva-tion at the hotel when they arrive. Hotels are now studying customers’

pre and post arrival requirements so as to make the experience of the stay with them a memorable one.

Apart from individual customers, bookings for conferences and meet-ings are also being used as a plat-form to introduce new service tools. For instance, a leading hotel brand has introduced the facility to do cus-tomized web pages for clients who book the hotel for an event. The facility allows clients to have their own web page that their delegates can then use to book their accom-modations through. These customer-specific booking tools are not only giving end users the edge in terms of the final rates but are also giving hotels the ability to drive up their oc-cupancy rates and customer satisfac-tion levels.

The hotel specific promotions come in addition to the general trends in the industry, where offers include free night stays, upgrades, complimentary nights as well as visa provisions. With an addition

Internet-savvy customers, sitting down to compare rates and also make their booking just in time for the travel, have put further pressure on room rates

to the inventory expected this year and through the next, the industry is largely optimistic about the scope for business in the UAE and the GCC in the future. While many are branch-ing out into sectors where there is a dearth of infrastructure like several countries in the African continent, many are also looking to Central Asia which they say is the emerging market.

Within the UAE, the focus clear-ly seems to be tilting towards Abu Dhabi, while Saudi Arabia is gaining favour as the new ‘blue-eyed boy’ for the hotel industry in the region. Oth-er markets include Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Qatar and Oman. The industry is also of the firm view that working in tandem with govern-ment authorities in the UAE is im-perative to market the destination as “less expensive” if it has to stay in the competition and not lose out to other Middle Eastern destinations that are aggressively promoting themselves as the next best bet.


Selling through the brandHilton says new strategies help in retaining business

“In difficult times, relation-ships make a big difference. People you know and trust you will have the business

taken care of,” says Essam Abouda, Vice President Operations, Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean for Hilton.

The comments are a reflection of the changing trends in doing business for the hotel industry in the UAE and the world since the financial crisis. One of the distinguishing aspects of this crisis is that unlike the earlier ones, this has had global repercussions and there is no clarity on when the end would come.

Hilton says that despite the repercus-sions of the crisis, the Middle East has not been as adversely affected as other parts of the world. There is data to back the assertion, says the hotel chain. Posi-tive results have been achieved largely due to the “strong and stable economy” of the UAE, says Essam Abouda.

“The strength of the marketing magnitude of the Middle East espe-cially in places like the UAE, where the marketing machinery and the drive for promoting the destinations, the special offers and promotions, the airlines and the government departments helped

in a major way to sustain and to make sure that the leisure industry was not adversely affected,” he explains.

The group on an average dropped its rates by about 20 per cent and claims it has managed occupancy rates between 80 and 90 per cent in its properties in UAE.

In Dubai for instance, right after the crisis, Emirates Airlines launched its promotion for summer where children up to 16 years of age got free ticket and also free accommodation. That proved to be a big promotion in the European

market and helped attract a substantial amount of business from there.

While rates have undergone a change, what has remained unchanged for Hilton is the profile of customers. “We don’t think that the buying power of our clientele has been affected,” says Essam Abouda. Usually when there is a drop in rates, the kind of customers that a hotel attracts changes. Hilton says that with the onset of the crisis and a reduction in long haul travel, the group is focussing on attracting clients from within the GCC.

Hilton says that despite the repercussions of the crisis, the Middle East has not been as adversely affected as other parts of the world

Essam Abouda



Tourist count, however, has seen a massive drop with a dip in global travel, so even promotions are not a fool proof method to drive up the numbers. This is where the industry believes that “inno-vative sales techniques” are being used to spur business activity.

“We don’t think that cutting rates is the only way to attract business. In-novative ways of presenting the busi-ness makes a big difference. Everyone can drop rates and you will see winners and losers and you see others drop rates even further, say by 50 per cent and even then you see that the client goes to a higher brand or to a more expensive hotel, because he believes that he gets more value for money,” argues Essam Abouda.

Urgency has then been internalised as part of the new business model that the industry has learnt since the crisis set in. Hilton says that there is no longer time or room to put a decision off to a future date. “A goal and time limit have to be set beforehand to survive in the market today,” he explains.

Promotional activities involved the request upon arrival program. Clients could request for certain items to be available in their room or request for an upgrade to a different kind of an ac-commodation. The Hilton Extra nights offers rewards as long as a client stays at the hotel. A unique and first time program has been the Hilton Honours where customers get rewards in miles as well as points at the same time. The GCC clients were targeted during the summer months and that paid off rich dividends. Because of its proximity to the UAE, travellers from Kuwait, Bah-rain and Saudi Arabia represented a very good portion of the hotel’s busi-ness at that time.

Part of the hotel chain’s innovative sales technique involved concentrating on the spa and the food and beverage section, which holds a lot of promise. On the sales front, Hilton made sure that the group as a whole was being promoted rather than launching sepa-rate promotions for its hotels in various destinations.

“Instead of each sales person from each hotel going and selling, we looked at the cluster of hotels where they deal

with the same operators and maximised the benefit through our relationship for all the hotels. For example if we contract for Abu Dhabi and Dubai with five top travel agents, we made sure that these people were being contracted through one key person who represented Hilton. Same was the case with our interna-tional destinations. Instead of working against each destination with the same hotel chain, we went there as a team and maximised the benefit for all our hotels across various places,” elaborates Essam Abouda.

Talking specifically about Dubai, what has largely impacted the tourism business in the emirate is its aggressive promotion as a shopping destination. The financial crisis has hit the retail sec-tor and that is reflecting in the Dubai market as well. So did Dubai overdo the shopping theme?

Hilton does not agree. The group says that the emirate has intelligently marketed itself as a destination that offers not just the shopping experi-ence but also “the sun, the sea and the sand”. This they believe is the USP of the place and that needs to be built on. Also the opening up of big hospitals is slowly paving the way for the emirate to emerge as a future medical tourism destination.

“Coming to Dubai should almost be-come like a fashion statement and that is something that the government should be working towards. The place needs to be promoted as one where tourists say that they have been to the Atlantis, the Burj Al Arab, they have skied in the snow at the Mall of the Emirates and in the afternoon went water skiing in the lovely weather,” suggest Abouda.

On medical tourism, Lebanon has been massively promoting itself in that area. But Hilton believes that there is massive scope for Dubai to pose a good challenge to Lebanon with its hospitals, leisure facilities and infrastructure.

The challenge then arises in the sales department at each hotel which in the past were engaged in “managing the yield” rather than “selling aggres-sively”. With the earlier advantage of excess customer clearly absent from the market, every individual for the hotels becomes a sales person. It is also about image building and upkeep.

“A door man can also sell. While opening the door or escorting the guest to the reception, if he makes the effort to promote the outlet, then a sale has been made. Same is the case with the houseman. While going to the room of the guest and at being asked a question about what needs to be done, he gives the right advice, then again he has made a sale,” explains Abouda.

There is no longer the luxury of re-gretting business as in the past. Focuss-ing manpower and money on the top ten accounts in business is essential, says Hilton. “That is the key area from where we are getting business,” explains Abouda. Whether it is leisure or the cor-porate segment, the idea is to not cut off communication with clients but to keep them engaged for possibilities in the fu-ture as well.

Looking into the future, Hilton is negotiating between 50 and 60 projects across the Middle East. Out of that fig-ure, the group aims to create at least 20 solid deals from. A few of those projects have either been signed or are already under construction. The process is also being aided by the fact that construc-tion costs have come down and with the budget of completing a said project has dropped down by at least 35 per cent.

But location is the key, says Hilton. “If a hotel is well-positioned in which-ever destination it is, it stands to gain. We have also noticed that brands have managed to sustain and attract more business as compared to unbranded hotels. Clients will still go to the names they trust,” Abouda says.

Part of the hotel chain’s innovative sales technique involved concentrating on the spa and the food and beverage section, which holds a lot of promise


Rates do the talkingMarriott says it has moved resources to more promising sectors such as catering

It is the average rate that has taken a beating for Marriott rather than the volume over the last one year. A loyal customer following in the

UAE as well as globally has assured that the customer flow remains largely unaf-fected by the crisis. The driving force behind dropping rates is the financial crisis compounded with the influx of in-ventory into the market.

Average rates for the Marriott dropped by about 20 per cent, also corre-sponding to a similar drop in revenue for the group since the crisis set in. While that has been on the room side, the hotel has been focusing attention on the food and beverage segment that has shown a lot of promise.

The meeting segment is witnessing a slowdown and Marriott says it has reacted quickly by moving resources to other segments that hold promise. That includes the catering segment.

“We have been able to see growth on the food and beverage segment year on year. Outside catering and doing large customer events have been good; we are also the official caterers for the Dubai International Air Show; we also do a lot of concert catering, and sports events. So subsequently we have succeeded to find revenue from other areas and hence our numbers have actually grown on that. Even Ramadan was an interesting month as we have registered a 43 per cent grown in Iftar revenue year on year,” re-veals Paul Rushton, Director Sales and Marketing, J W Marriott, Dubai. The message from the group is that people are still spending and it is for the hotel industry to tap into new avenues.

While people are spending, they are also becoming very choosy about where and what they spend on. That also poses a challenge for the hotel industry in terms

of reinventing the service offerings. Mar-riott says it hasn’t had to do any “radical shifting” in the service promises. A good understanding of the customer base, some of whom have been with the group since its opening in Dubai, has helped the group to get a proper understanding of what their requirements and prefer-ences are.

Marriott maintains that the custom-ers see the services that it offers as very good value for money since the way it has positioned and priced the offers are in keeping with “customer expecta-tions”.

“We are priced fairly in the market, we are not overpriced and our offering has been in line with what customers would like. So we haven’t found any dras-tic change in their demands,” elaborates Paul Rushton. With the corporate meet-ing and conferences decreasing at the

beginning and middle of the year, there is renewed activity in that segment and that holds promise for the group. Though the size and nature of these events will not be on par with the previous years, the revival of activity is a positive signal, says Mar-riott. The group also maintained its loyal GCC clientele through the year. What also worked for it is Dubai’s strategic position-ing that enables travelers from Europe and UK or going to these destinations using it as a transit point for their journeys.

From a customer service standpoint, knowing one’s main customers and ac-counts is the key to survival. From the sales deployment point of view, the group says the team makes it a point to stay in regular touch with these clients and maxi-mize business opportunities coming out of these accounts.

“There is increased activity and inten-sity around our locally-driven account. On an international level, it is similar inten-sity with our account directors who look after global accounts. They are very close to those customers, talking to them on a regular basis and staying in touch with them so that if they do need to react early in terms of pricing or value additions rath-er than react two or three months down the line, they are in a position to do that,” informs Paul Rushton.

The urgency has come about because of the large number of hotels vying for a smaller portion of the customer base that is available now. No one wants their accounts to be stolen. The strategy is to protect and grow their market share. While sales are taking care of maintaining a personal-ized feel to the Marriott experience, as far

While people are spending, they are also becoming very choosy about where and what they spend on

Paul Rushton Marriott


17

as the marketing segment is concerned, the concentration is to “build a message around community service activities and tactical campaigns”. These tactical campaigns are predominantly food and beverage.

Though there have been no dramatic changes in strategy, the group says that with the GCC, it has increased the fre-quency of doing direct sales shows. Previ-ously if these shows were once or twice a year, now it is about five times a year with the idea to re-visit clients more often.

Personalised customer service varies from individual customer requirements. While some of the business clients look for internet facilities, others want trans-port to and from the airport. Some seek allowance to cover their food, beverage and laundry needs. Each requirement is closely monitored and delivered, says Marriott.

“Customer demands also change de-pending upon the kind of experience they are seeking. On the leisure side, you have two kinds of customers. First is the person who wants to have the beach experience and enjoy the beach prop-erty and the second is someone who is a stopover customer and is using Dubai as a stopover to some other place. So we have kept our eyes and ears open to these customer needs and have targeted those source markets and those distribution channels that would support that strat-egy,” says Paul Rushton.

Success of these strategies is reflected in Marriott’s claim that it has maintained volumes from the beginning of the year. That the group says has also helped “maintain” the market share. In fact, the chain claims it is outperforming the market.

“We have been able to maintain vol-ume. We read the signals earlier that there was a slowdown occurring and subsequently we positioned our rates to be able to capture the business coming through rather than being too aggressive and losing out on potential opportuni-ties,” Rushton elaborates.

Bringing rates down however is what most hotels did, so the true test then lay in the quality of the product and the service. Marriott says that with a “good reputation in terms of responsiveness” it stood to gain in a market that was fast

losing out customers. “If we have a conference enquiry, we

will turn that quotation around for our customer within a three hour period. We try to position the cost right straight away so that we don’t have to keep re-writing it. This turnaround time of about three hours is way below the market norm of about 24 to 48 hours. Apart from that what we ensure is a perfect delivery of the event. So any issue of either service or delivery is taken care of because of our huge experience of the market,” Rushton explains.

Online activity is also getting re-newed focus with a growing number of clients preferring to use that as a medium of not just booking but also getting the best deals. The features include access to corporate rates online. With the feature being coded, clients can secure the in-formation since it is a confidential deal between the company and the hotel. This enables in taking the pressure off the travel coordinator and the company that the actual executive can book his travel requirements and reduce rates. Another provision is online conference require-ment management. A unique for the company is enabling companies to up-date their participant list online directly

into the Marriott inventory. The group says that this feature has been widely ap-preciated by their clients.

E-confirmation is another online fea-ture that the group is offering. A virtual-concierge sends out an e-confirmation to a customer who is travelling to a specific destination as his travel date approaches. A customer can book a limousine on-line, a snack on arrival or a restaurant reserva-tion. They also do customized web pages for their corporate clients so that they can then ask their delegates to log into it and book their accommodations through it. Online is thus becoming a big reservation tool for the group.

Marriott says that the experience of staying at a hotel is becoming more per-sonal. Looking into 2010, the group says that the promotional activities are going to be largely centered on the meetings busi-ness. “The coming year will be a challeng-ing year but it won’t be a dire year,” says Rushton.

Looking into the future opportuni-ties for Dubai, Marriott says that with the infrastructure readily available and more being set in place, the emirate can come up as a major hub for large association and congress business. What is needs is a con-tinued proactive marketing campaign.

Success of its strategies is reflected in Marriott’s claim that it has maintained volumes from the beginning of the year



‘Liquid rates’ is the new buzzwordRotana’s move to offer ‘affordable luxury’ helps tide over crisis

Dubai as a city managed to get enough attention in the third quarter of the year, says Naeem Darka-

zally, Area Director of Marketing and Communications, Rotana, Dubai and Northern Emirates. That was largely due to the hotel industry in the emir-ate and the country as a whole react-ing proactively to the changing trends in the industry with the onset of the financial crisis. With occupancy rates staying well within respectable limit, hotels believe that Dubai managed to avert the risk of hotels running into losses due to low occupancy rates and dipping average rates.

“During a crisis, the fastest gets the best,” says Darkazally. “You need to change your plans and adapt your marketing plans and expenditure to attract new customers and new parties that you want to work with,” he adds. Traditionally Dubai has positioned itself at the higher end of the feeder market. With a Dh1,000 average rate, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find the best deals for hotel opera-tors to work with. The crisis meant that international tour operators insisted on “better deals” to be able to sell a package to prospective customers and so did the corporate, which wanted to trim budgets.

“There was a demand and supply factor that played in our favour ear-lier but today that has changed,” says Darkazally. He refrains from putting the blame for the drop in rates entirely on the crisis. The influx of inventory

uring the profitability of the business since hotels could have higher room rents and less occupancy,” Darkaza-lly explains. The third quar-ter saw the rents slip by as much as 50 per cent across the board for several hotels. Several summer campaigns were very aggressive. Rotana says that they brought down rooms rates to as little as Dh 250.

Reduction was not to the extent that “downgraded the city,” says Rotana. The flip side of bringing down costs is that a city like Dubai that has worked over the years to posi-tion itself in the Middle East as well as globally as a sort of a “wonder of the world” will take a beating. Dubai’s pack-

aging as a unique city in its presence and its culture, its cosmopolitan nature with its mega projects has attracted a certain clientele over the years, and the hotel industry feels it stands to lose if operators drove it to making it a “$50 city”.

“It will be a crime to do that to a city like Dubai. There are places that are chartered flight cities because they do not have international airports. There have been several hotels in the emirate,

into the market also had a lot to do with driving the rates down, he says.

“When the Atlantis opened, it changed the Dubai tourism map for-ever,” he opines. Additional rooms also forced hotels to slash rates. Rotana says it dropped it by anywhere between 15 and 20 per cent to maintain RevPAR (Revenue per available room) in the second quarter of the year. “The aver-age rate becomes ineffective in meas-

Traditionally Dubai has positioned itself at the higher end of the feeder market

Naeem Darkazally Rotana



which have dropped rates to generate 100 per cent occupancy, but that is not good in the long term interest of the city,” Darkazally argues.

Going further, however, Rotana re-alised that rates should not be allowed a free fall. With parties involved in the business, including third party brokers, travel agents, travel management com-panies and tour operators, re-contract-ing and re-evaluating their contracts, it became imperative to reassess the market requirement. Even corporate clients re-contracted their rates more than three times this year, a hazard that needs to be taken to stay competitive.

Not just the corporate segment, but the leisure segment also took a different turn. With international tourists being very sensitive to issues like the H1N1 or the crisis, they decided to work with last minute rates rather than a contracted or a re-contracted one. They began de-manding weekly and in some case rates every few days. The concept of liquidat-ing rates thus entered the leisure seg-ment of the business for Rotana, which is one of the few to introduce liquid rates into the market.

The impact has been positive to the extent that it has given Rotana the “flex-ibility to be able to bend our rates up or down depending on our occupancy lev-els and also upon the market trends to be able to attract and protect our market share,” says Darkazally. With increased customer interest in the online activity with regard to comparing rates as well as booking, hotels are turning towards the medium to make themselves more visible and easily bookable. Cutting costs is not restricted to individual travelers. It has also reflected in the way corporate organizations handle their travel itinerary. With the new tools of attracting customers, hotels might be able to hit a good occupancy rate, but then a closer look reveals that the fre-quency of repeat travelers has dropped.

Take exhibitions for instance. Pre-viously companies would send a large number of people and many of them would be senior executives. But now with cost cutting topping the agenda, the top brass is choosing to skip the trips. That has meant less expense for the individual companies and less con-

tracts for hotels. The crisis has also resulted in cus-

tomers becoming very aware of the services that are being offered to them for the money they spend. Since eve-ryone is trying to save the dollar, the demand is for the best that the money can bring.

“The essential services in the hos-pitality industry cannot change. The cleanliness and the staff friendliness

cannot be replaced. You have to have a receptionist at the reception and a wait-er at the restaurant. The bed sheets have to be right and so do the pillows. What we are doing though is to orient our staff to continue the emphasis on de-tail since the customer will be watching closely henceforth,” says Darkazally.

Luxury alone is not what custom-ers are looking for today. The demand is tilting more towards value for money.

The flip side of bringing down costs is that a city like Dubai that has worked over the years to position itself in the Middle East as well as globally as a sort of a “wonder of the world” will take a beating

Amwaj Rotana


This opens the door for the future de-velopment of the mid-market segment that includes the four star and three star hotels. The hotel industry on the whole is of the opinion that it is the fu-ture. The new avenue has also caught Rotana’s attention and the result is projects like the Centro Rotana, which is a three star hotel of the brand. The product is targeted at young business-men “who do not have the time to sit down and have an hour long lunch or a half hour breakfast”. For young entre-preneurs who wish to breeze through their schedule, this three star facility provides what “Starbucks” gives you but with “luxury” says Rotana. The facility has been designed keeping in mind the need to be trendy yet quick. With IT features that are a must for to-day’s globetrotting businessmen, this product aims to capture the growing appetite for affordable luxury.

Working in unison with the airline industry, the Dubai airport and DTCM has also opened various avenues for Rotana.

“We work in tandem with them and they have helped us to open up the South American market. We also participated in business sales trips and road shows in markets where we have never been before. We have been to China, Poland, The Czech Republic and Italy among others,” officials say. The efforts have earned the group con-tracts and businesses that will bring them daily occupancies. The initiatives have been made to set up a platform in these countries and then build on them by means of marketing and representa-tive offices as well as sales efforts.

With close to 3,500 rooms being managed everyday in Dubai alone, the group says that it stands in an advanta-geous position. Rotana claims to be the only hotel management company that manages these many rooms from a centralized sales and marketing office, giving the person who walks into the company the possibility to chose from an array of products including five-star, four-star, three star beach as well as city hotels.

Despite branching into other geo-graphical sectors of which UK, Germa-ny, Russia and the US form part of the

feeder market, the GCC still remains top priority. The group maintains that Dubai remains one of the best leisure destinations in Middle East and also now with the increasing inventory ca-pacity, the range to choose from has widened.

Capitalising on the new found urge to shed its image as an “expensive des-tination” what needs to be effected is a rationalization of rates, believes Ro-tana. So will the rates soften further? “Positioning the city at an average rate of Dh1,000 or Dh 400 was overpriced. I think if you look at the trends globally, we should lose close to 30 per cent of our average rates on an annual level, which includes our low and high rates and that will help us bring the city back on track where a lot more people will be able to afford to come here,” Darka-zally argues.

How then does the group plan to stave off competition through price wars? Sounding confident of Rotana’s service quality, Darkazally says that the diversity of the products that the group offers within the city is its USP. Offering customers the choice to com-pare rates at the group’s hotels and to be able to make a more informed deci-sion is one such step that the group has taken. Keeping track of where the cus-tomer spends his money is also another tool to measure where the hotel needs to concentrate its efforts on. This has helped them to make such items free for their customers without any hidden costs. So the room rate is all that the customer pays for and nothing else.

For families staying at Rotana, a free breakfast comes complementary. But for businessmen who wish to stay connected during their stay, the high speed internet facilities have been made free. In case of corporate clients who use the hotel for conferences and other needs, the recession has played a dampener in terms of cutting down on

the number of such events that are be-ing hosted. But when it comes to footing the bill, Rotana says it is flexible enough to allow client who have been associ-ated with the group for a long time the time to pay the bills, if they have trouble paying upfront. Rotana says that being “friendly” is the key to doing business for them.

With the crisis affecting the banking industry, Rotana believes that joining hands with its banking partners has helped for projects like co-branding to “create a constant visibility”. So joint marketing strategies have also been a part of the group’s measures in moving forward.

“We went out to our end-customers with co-branded messages with the Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial bank, Dubai First and so and they were all successful. During the final assessment, it is not just about how much money we make, but we are also focusing on finding the right market exposure and also the impression that we have been able to make in the mar-ketplace,” Darkazally elaborates.

Conceding that the corporate seg-ment has been hit, Rotana is hopeful that the fourth quarter results will be better. The group has had to “replace the deficits in the corporate segments into other segments”. The narrowing time-frame for booking is also not making things easy. With the emerging trend of massive online activity for bookings, Rotana is directing its attention towards the online market.

Advising the industry to adapt a positive outlook for the future, Rotana believes that it will be imperative for hotels to look at their individual dis-tribution channels and find new means to market themselves. The group says that it remains undeterred by the crisis and the coming year will see more ho-tel openings and aggressive marketing activities.

Despite branching into other geographical sectors, of which UK, Germany, Russia and the US form part of the feeder market, the GCC still remains top priority for Rotana


BANKING

GRIM NUMBERSBad debts eat into banking sector profitability

A significant increase in the need for provisioning to take care of huge bad debts, a sim-ilar rise in non-performing

assets, slow growth in the loan portfolios and continued difficulties posed by the financial crisis are undermining the per-formance of UAE banks, many of which have already reported considerably nega-tive third quarter results.

According to analysts, the struggle for the banks would continue until at least the middle of next year, provided the industry is spared of any further

Rating agencies see the banks ‘being highly challenged’ by the mounting bad debts throughout 2010, as these debts will consume the profits and the capital adequacy ratios of local institutions. Ac-cording to them, the full impact of the crisis may still have not been felt.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of sev-en UAE-based financial institutions re-flecting the agency’s view that the ability of the sovereign UAE Federal Authorities and the Emirate of Dubai to provide sup-port has lessened.

shocks. Any new bad news would fur-ther complicate the recovery path.

The large exposure of many UAE banks to the Saudi Al Gosaibi and Saad Group problem came as a double wham-my as the banks were already struggling to cope with the effect of the global fi-nancial crisis as well as the all-encom-passing real estate bubble. The fact that Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has had to book as much as Dh810 mil-lion in bad-loan Similarly, National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD had to set aside Dh284 million.

23

The institutions named as affected are Bank of Sharjah, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Bank, Emirates Bank International, Mashreqbank, National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah and Tamweel. At the same time, the Support ratings for four of these institutions have been downgraded to ‘2’ from ‘1’.

Fitch has reviewed the sources of sup-port provided to the UAE banking sector over the past year by both the UAE Fed-eral Authorities and individual emirates. The review also considered the ability and willingness of these support provid-ers to continue to provide support if nec-essary.

Fitch concluded that the willingness to provide support for most institutions is unchanged, but said the ability of the federal authorities as well as the Du-bai government to provide support has weakened, prompting the negative rating actions.

At the same time, Fitch affirmed the ratings of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, First Gulf Bank , National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Union National Bank following di-rect support provided by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to them.

A closer look at the third quarter re-sults of some of the banks follows:

National Bank of Abu DhabiNBAD reported solid third quarter net profit of Dh914 million (40.5 per cent higher year on year) beating market consensus of Dh817 million. The bank recorded its highest quarterly revenue ever of Dh1.7 billion, helped by contin-ued growth in interest income and also stabilization in the non funded business. While loans have grown by 14.7 per cent since the end of 2008, revenues in 2009 grew by 21.3 per cent, helped primarily by a 36.7 per cent rise in interest income. The bank was able to expand 2009 mar-gins to 2.77 per cent, compared to 2.61 per cent in 2008.

The loan base expanded slower than the second quarter, with the loan book growing by Dh3.9 billion in the third quarter (+3.2 per cent) versus the Dh8.4 billion growth seen in the second quar-ter. The big surprise was in the customer

deposit base shrinking by Dh1.1 bil-lion, but this was expected following the stronger then estimated growth in the second quarter of Dh13.8 billion.

Provisioning levels were maintained as NPLs rose slightly, with third quarter provisions remaining flat on a quarterly basis at Dh284 million, but up by 59 per cent on yearly basis While absolute NPLs rose markedly by Dh218 million in the third quarter vs. Dh76 million in the sec-ond, the NPL ratio only rose to 1.2 per cent from 1.06 per cent. Analysts estimate that the loan loss coverage ratio dropped slightly to a still healthy 146.3 per cent. The bank had previously disclosed mini-

mal Saad and Gosaibi exposures totaling $10.9 million.

The bank continued investment in people, network and infrastructure re-cording a Dh56 million cost increase (+35 per cent year on year and +13 per cent quarter to quarter). The cost efficiency ratio weakened to 28.8 per cent from 26.5 per cent in Q2, but is still in line with the bank’s guideline of 30 per cent and be-low.

NBAD continues its prudent provi-sioning level and together with improve-ments in the revenue base and according to Al Mal Capital, the bank is in line to handsomely beat its full year net income

The large exposure of many UAE banks to the Saudi Al Gosaibi and Saad Group problem came as a double whammy as the banks were already struggling to cope with the global financial crisis and the real estate bubble



forecast of Dh2.9 billion. Its analysts say the fear of a rise in NPLs has not disap-peared.

Abu Dhabi Commercial BankADCB reported third quarter profits of Dh44 million (-85.4 per cent quarterly and -89.5 per cent on an annual basis) driven down by provisions of Dh810 mil-lion compared to Dh312 million in the third quarter of 2008 and Dh613 million in the second quarter of this year. Rev-

enues have risen by 8.7 per cent but the mix has shifted and interest income now makes up 68 per cent of revenues, vs. 54 per cent in 2008.

While ADCB has been able to raise margins to 2.42 per cent (2.2 per cent in 2008) and grow their loan book by 9.65 per cent in 2009, the non-funded busi-ness is feeling weakness (down 23 per cent year on year) due to lower volumes across wholesale and consumer banking. Loans/Deposit ratio weakened further to 143 per cent from129 per cent at the end of the second quarter.

But the most important story, ac-cording to analysts, is on the provisions side of the bank’s business. In its bond disclosure dated September 27, 2009 the bank had disclosed exposures (net of col-lateral) to the Saad and Gosaibi groups of Dh2.24 billion, of which only 19 per cent (Dh430 million) was provisioned for. While the Saudi exposures account

for the increase in NPLs (4.2 per cent with and 2.6 per cent without the Saudi exposure) excluding the Saudis there was an estimated additional Dh755 mil-lion in new non-performing loans in the third quarter alone. The bank has 60 per cent of its loan book exposed to the Abu Dhabi market, with a majority of the re-

maining in Dubai.With the real estate

correction in Dubai and continued rise in NPL’s (besides the Saudi ex-posure), analysts believe NPLs will continue to rise and along with it the commensurate provi-sioning.

Loan loss coverage ratio has weakened con-siderably to 52.3 per cent as of the third quarter, with the Saudi exposures and 70.7 per cent with-out. Analysts say future results could continue to be impacted negatively

by continued reserve building. The one silver lining could, however, be recent moves by the Gosaibi group to reach a settlement with UAE banks and hope that the Saad groups overtures to Saudi banks will be mimicked in the UAE, although the timing and likelihood are unknown, analysts point out.

Emirates NBDEmirates NBD announced its nine-months net profit of Dh3,164 million, showing a decline of 14 per cent year on year in profitability while on a quar-terly basis, figures for the third quarter increased 3 per cent year on year. The numbers have been seriously bogged down by high NPLs, outlining an im-proving trajectory in the bank’s core performance.

The net interest income showed a 32 per cent rise (including net income from

Islamic financings) while quarterly NII escalated by a noteworthy 8 per cent on quarterly basis. While loans grew 0.2 per cent, they had little to contribute to the improving NII. The rise in the NII comes from a confluence of factors which in-clude a decline in the cost of funds and the benefit arising from the placement of the Dh4 billion Tier-I securities (as issued by the Investment Corporation of Dubai). Analysts calculate that the spreads of the bank have increased from 2.7 per cent in the third quarter of last year to 3 per cent in the comparable period this year.

ENBD’s non-interest income also exhibited a drop of 17 per cent year on year for the third quarter; however, on a quarterly basis, non-interest income improved 19 per cent. Fee & commis-sion income was down 16 per cent as a result of a decline in new underwritings and in trade financing activity. The bank reported a loss of Dh2.5 million for the third quarter, emanating from its associ-ates and joint ventures. The bank fared well in terms of favourable re-pricing of its investments in the second and third quarters.

Despite a 14 per cent rise in its total income in the third quater, the bank re-ported declining profitability due to the heavy provisioning during the period un-der review. The asset quality saw further deterioration, as the NPLs ratio increased from 1.56 per cent in the second quarter to 1.88 in the third. As per the manage-ment, asset deterioration came from both the corporate and the consumer side. In-crease in the delinquency was, however, within the bank’s expectations, which anticipates the NPLs ratio to rise further to 2 per cent by end of 2009 and 2.5 per cent in the first half of next year. The bank also stated that it has provided ad-equately for the Saudi conglomerates that defaulted earlier in the year.

Overall, analysts consider most of the key performance indicators for ENBD as healthy and robust, portraying some positivity for upcoming quarter. On the

Fitch Ratings downgraded the ratings of seven UAE-based financial institutions reflecting the agency’s view about the prospects of support


Rating agencies see the banks ‘being highly challenged’ by the mounting bad debts throughout 2010, as these debts will consume profits and capital adequacy ratios

flip side, a further decline in asset quality and an anticipated decline in spreads (to normalized levels) may eat into the prof-itability, they feel.

MashreqbankMashreqbank reported that its net profit for the first nine months was Dh1.12 bil-lion. Net income for the nine months declined 26 per cent year-on-year, which the bank attributed to prudent financial management, leading to increased pro-visions for loans, advances and other fi-nancial assets to Dh1.4 billion.

“Whilst net profits are below those re-corded for the equivalent period last year, this is largely due to our ongoing policy of prudent financial management,” Mashreqbank chief executive Abdulaziz Al Ghurair said.

Assets rose 7 per cent through the period to reach Dh99.9 billion, while de-posits increased 19 per cent to Dh61 bil-lion, according to the statement.

Loans and advances, including Is-lamic financing, were down 9.5 per cent, “enabling the bank to achieve a very comfortable advances-to-deposit ratio of 82%,”the lender added. The bank said its total capital adequacy ratio is at 21 per cent and Tier-1 Capital ratio at 15 per cent.

Analysts calculate that the third quar-ter net profit fell 42 per cent to Dh201.1 million from Dh364.3 million in the cor-responding period last year.

Mashreq has filed a court case against Saudi group Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros (AHAB) to claim Dh1.46 bil-lion owed by the group. The bank said the amount included the $225 million it seeks to recover from AHAB in a law suit filed in New York. The Algosaibi family conglomerate has in turn filed a law suit in New York against Mashreqbank and Maan al-Sanea, head of Saudi Arabia’s Saad Group, seeking combined damages of more than $2 billion.

Dubai Islamic BankDubai Islamic Bank reported a net profit of Dh1.12 billion for the first nine months of 2009, continuing the trend of positive performance in the year to date. DIB made impairment provisions of Dh403

million for the same period, impacting its net profitability.

The bank’s total assets as of Septem-ber 30, 2009, stood at Dh82.9 billion, while customer deposits reached Dh66.1 billion in the same period.

According to the bank, the figures reflect the continued strength and ap-peal of DIB during a period of sustained expansion of the bank’s retail banking services and channels through its bricks-and-mortar branch network, which is targeted to reach a total of 64 nationwide branches by the end of this year. The bank has already opened six new branch-es in 2009.

At the end of the third quarter of 2009, DIB’s investing and financing as-sets stood at Dh50.3 billion, while the bank’s financing-to-deposit ratio stood at 76 per cent as of September 30, 2009, reflecting its sensible credit approach

and strong liquidity position, which has enabled DIB to expand its retail credit. As further evidence of the bank’s strong liquidity position, earlier this year, DIB bought back its sukuk amounting to $50.6 million through a cash tender offer to its sukuk holders.

On the regional front, the bank an-nounced in the third quarter of this year that Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank (JDIB) has received a preliminary banking li-cence from the Central Bank of Jordan to operate as an Islamic financial insti-tution, and that it will begin operations with a share capital of $100 million. JDIB is expected to open its first branch in the first quarter of next year.

First Gulf BankFirst Gulf Bank reported a net profit of Dh2,456 million for the first nine months. The results exhibit an improve-ment of 5 per cent year on year profitabil-

ity, but analysts see a remarkable uplift in the bottom-line on a quarterly basis. The third quarter results were higher by 9 per cent year on year , signaling a marked im-provement. This was led by the net inter-est income which grew 31 per cent over the third quarter last year. However the growth was somewhat stagnant on quar-terly basis with a marginal improvement of 3 per cent.

FGB’s non-interest income for the quarter, is calculated to be approximately Dh700 million, which contributed 42 per cent of the total operating income. While banking fees and commissions seem to be in line with previous quarters, signifi-cantly high figures for FX & investment income and for other income have led analysts to believe that one-off items may have had played a major role in burgeon-ing non-interest income. FX & invest-ment income and other income for the

quarter are approximated to be in the vi-cinity of Dh180 million and Dh220 mil-lion respectively, strikingly higher than the mid-double digit figures reported in the first two quarters of the current year.

The bank took very high provisions once again, standing at Dh490 million for the quarter, after taking provisions amounting to Dh220 million and Dh260 million in the first two quarters of 2009, respectively. This includes the provisions taken for the troubled Saad and al-Gos-aibi groups. According to the bank, its exposure to these groups stands at $104 million (approx. Dh382 million).

Analysts feel that since the bank has booked Dh70 million in total over the second quarter and the third quarter in provisions related to the Saudi groups, the source of the remaining provisions is a cause of concern. FGB plans to take an additional Dh174 million in provisions over the next 5 quarters, (roughly Dh35 million per quarter) to adequately pro-vide for the Saudi conglomerates. Cur-


rently, the bank’s NPLs to gross loans ratio stands at 2.1 per cent, as against 1.8 per cent reported in the second quarter, while the coverage ratio stood at a com-fortable 153 per cent (down from 165 per cent in the second quarter).

FGB’s assets grew 16 per cent YTD while its loans disbursement remained in check with a lower 13 per cent rise. Since the bank’s deposits rose 21 per cent, its Loans to deposits ratio improved fur-ther from 107 per cent in 2008 and 103 per cent in the first half to 101 per cent in the three quarters. Capital adequacy stood at 18.8 per cent (22.8 per cent post conversion of Dh.5 billion Tier II capital) for the nine months period.

RAKBankRAKBANK reported a net profit of Dh530.66 million for the nine months, reflecting a 10.40 per cent increase com-pared to the same period last year. The bank said it continued to register growth in its chosen segments of small business finance, personal loans, mortgages and credit cards.

Over the nine-month period, the bank’s net interest income at Dh850.87 million increased by 32 per cent com-pared to the same time last year. Gross Loans and advances stood at Dh13.17 billion, a 17 per cent increase over the nine month period and a 23 per cent in-crease over the same time last year.

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.05 per cent, against a minimum of 11 per cent mandated by the Central Bank. The bank said the ratio would be boosted to 20 per cent once deposits received from the Ministry of Finance are in-cluded in the calculation upon comple-tion of legal formalities. The advances to deposits ratio stood at a comfortable 93.6 per cent as per the UAE Central Bank calculations.

The bank has set aside Dh167 million for impaired loans for the nine month period. Fee, commission and other in-come at Dh390 million was up by 11 per cent compared to the same time last year. Total assets stood at Dh16.38 billion, an 18 per cent increase from year-end 2008, and 20 per cent higher than the same pe-riod last year. The main growth in assets was seen in loans and advances.

During the year, investments total-ing Dh209 million matured leaving an outstanding portfolio of Dh560 million at the end of September. The bank said the growth in the asset book has been supported by a combination of increase in customer deposits and shareholders’ equity. Customer deposits were up by Dh2.64 billion over the nine month pe-riod due to a combination of term and transaction deposits. Total shareholder’s Equity stood at Dh2.61 billion.

Abu Dhabi Islamic BankAbu Dhabi Islamic Bank announced a net income of Dh701.3 million for the nine months, down 4.8 per cent from Dh736.7 million in the same period of 2008. On a quarterly basis, the bank reported a profit of Dh239.5 million in the third quarter, up by 11 per cent from Dh216.5 million in 3Q2008.

The lower earnings have been attrib-uted to an increase in provisions and lower investment income. Provisions during the nine months amounted to

Dh385.9 million, of which Dh121.5 mil-lion was taken in the third quarter. In ad-dition, ADIB’s real estate subsidiary Bu-rooj, saw lower investment income, down by Dh244 million for the nine months.

Net revenue from funding witnessed an impressive rise to close at Dh1.6 bil-lion in the nine months, up by 25.2 per cent from Dh1.3 billion rom the same pe-riod in 2008.

Total assets increased by 14.6 per cent to reach Dh58.7 billion in the nine months from Dh51.2 billion at the end of 2008. In the same period, financing assets also increased to Dh39.2 billion, up by 14.7 per cent from Dh34.2 billion in 2008. Customer deposits increased by 17.4 per cent, from Dh37.5 billion in 2008 to Dh 44 billion, in the nine months un-der review.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) (ex-cluding government deposits) stood at 15.48 per cent and the bank is still in the process of converting Dh2.2 billion f government deposits into tier II capital. After this process, the CAR is expected to reach 20.3 per cent. The size of ADIB’s exposure to Saad & Al- Ghosiabi is still not known.


COPING UP

Tryst with luxuryCard companies target market’s upper end to keep business going

Expenditure cuts have become the norm, whether it is house-holds or businesses since the economic crisis began. Finding

a customer segment that remains com-paratively unaffected by the global dip in fortunes is what forced transactions com-pany MasterCard to look into the global affluent segment of customers.

MasterCard says that the growth po-tential in this segment is immense. With specific focus on the Middle East, there is 14 times more growth space in the card business here when compared to the Eu-ropean market. A large portion of this growth is set to be driven by the affluent customer. MasterCard in-house studies suggest that by 2017, Russia would account for one-third of the global luxury sales.

Affluent customers are also easy to identify, and they share common needs, behaviour and attitudes; they are also more optimistic

Jim Carrington


With the crisis entering its second year, consumer spending is yet to pick up and those who are spending are being cautious. So why does MasterCard think that the affluent segment holds growth potential?“We see an upward growth of over 30


per cent in this region for us and the af-fluent customers will drive much of this growth. The reason is that businesses consider affluent customers to be a better target from the spending point of view and being a spend-transaction-com-merce oriented company, we find their relative value to be great,” says James E Carrington, Group Executive, Global Consumer Credit Products, MasterCard Worldwide.

Affluent customers are also easy to identify, and they share common needs, behaviour and attitudes. But what makes them a very good target is that “they are more optimistic,” says MasterCard. The assumption is backed by second quarter results for 2009 for their Titanium card in the APMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) region. The company has registered a 49 per cent growth in Q2 this year as compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

From the point of view of a card is-suer, which has a day to day relationship with the consumer, it is easier to identify who these customers are. It enables issu-ers and transaction companies like Mas-terCard then to target their products and marketing activities towards the affluent segment.

With credit default rates shooting over the roof, the high net worth client is seen to be more consistent and hence seen as a “good bet” for issuers. Since the affluent customers are not seen to use a credit card as a “credit vehicle” but as a means to spend and transact, Master-Card says that it sees strong opportu-nity for issuers to build their brands by having a plastic that comes out at every transaction and makes a statement about their financial institution or their private bank or any part of the business that they want to promote.

Another statistic that throws light on the potential of this segment in the Middle East is that despite the economic crisis, in the APMEA region, brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Hermes have shown growth of four, 25 and 30 per cent respectively.

Emerging from this trend then is the chance to exploit the premium card holder’s requirements for “exceptional service, personalisation and customiza-

tion, preferential access and treatment and recognition and exclusivity”.

“Without question customers in this segment want the right service at the right time and if one can bring in tech-nology in time, it is better for them. In terms of rewards they are looking for the option to select benefits that are relevant to them. But that is not all, how the ben-efits are delivered to them is also equally important. So it is no longer a case of en-titlement for benefits but more of want-ing special treatment. And finally they want something that is just more than the standard rebate, they are looking for something that they feel is critical,” ex-plains James E Carrington.

A crucial feedback that issuers are sending back to transaction companies is that customers are looking for cards that work. Not only are they looking for secure transaction but also a globally rec-ognized brand that does not give them a negative experience of not being valid when they travel to other destinations.

From an issuers’ perspective, the af-fluent customer carries a bigger mort-gage, nicer cars, bigger balances and large investments. In terms of overall value, they are very good for any bank. From a merchant leveraging point of view, Mid-dle East has a good number of these op-portunities to build around. MasterCard has already co-branded with Saks Fifth Avenue in the region for the customers of the brand. In Japan, for instance, the partnership is with automakers Porsche. The transaction company says that these kinds of partnerships are essential to

“stimulate commerce”. MasterCard says they already have

cards targeting this segment. Their Gold, Platinum and World cards are a case in point. Emphasising on the experien-tial benefits that elite customers prefer, Porush Singh, Vice President, Credit Product Development, APMEA Region says, “Our premium card holders are looking for exclusive experience. So, for instance, they get access to the Marhaba lounges at the airport, card holders in Saudi Arabia get a Rolls Royce drop off and pick up or the diamond-studded credit card that gives preferential access to the Burj Al Arab.”

Apart from that, there is also lever-aging to be done for various sporting and entertainment events like the Du-bai Desert Classic, The Jazz Festival. To leverage off the luxury segment, fashion shows are also being used as a means to increase presence.

“We are able to leverage these ap-proaches and tie them together to bring to the affluent community the things they would want and would speak of the way they live and spend,” says Porush Singh.

Two other segments also offer great growth potential for the affluent custom-ers. “One is the e-commerce world and the other the mobile market since they will guide the future of transactions,” says James Carrington. Luxury partners in the US and Europe have been hit, but the Middle East is better placed and so MasterCard says that it is the right mar-ket to be creative and make “relevant value propositions”.

Despite the economic crisis, brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Hermes have shown growth of four, 25 and 30 per cent respectively


FOCUS

Moment of truthBanks are in a fight for their lives, says Accenture

Customer behaviors, attitudes and preferences have been forcibly altered by the eco-nomic downturn, and a new

customer math—and a new success formula to master it—are fast emerg-ing, an Accenture study of the banking industry reveals.

A recent Accenture survey of US banking customers estimates that as much as 30 per cent of a bank’s cus-tomer base today is vulnerable. To seize the opportunity of so many customers

According to the study, in the his-tory of banking, there has never been a more important time to focus on the customer. The global banking landscape has been forever changed by the credit crisis, leaving issues of trust, customer attrition, brand loyalty and the result-ing revenue declines trailing in its wake. While banks are marshalling resources to raise capital and cut costs where pos-sible, they must not overlook their life-blood: ongoing acquisition and reten-tion of customers, Accenture suggests.

in flux, banks must commit the time, talent and money to adjust their game plan to these new external and internal realities through actionable customer segmentation, sophisticated pricing, flexible solutions that meet changing needs and differentiated digital mar-keting capabilities, says Accenture

By tightly aligning and integrating their offerings to retain and acquire customers, banks can unlock organic growth and operating efficiencies in parallel, it says.


“These actions also can help lay the groundwork for a broader operat-ing model transformation to grow and sustain profitably long term. But right now, as the banking industry moves from a product-driven model to a cus-tomer demand-driven one, focusing on understanding and engaging the “new” customer has to be a priority. For the banks that act now, a return to high performance can follow”.

The study suggests that re-establish-ing the customer trust and loyalty once considered a given in bank customer re-lationships must become the foundation for a new business model. The financial downturn, generational changes, tech-nological advances and competitive fac-tors have all combined to challenge the “trust capital” once taken for granted.

“For banking leadership, this is a moment of truth in which the greatest risk is inaction. The new global con-sumer mindset is setting the stage for change. Needs, attitudes and behav-iors are on the move. This represents a golden opportunity for banks to refocus the attention and resources necessary to align offerings and interactions to match that mindset among their most valuable customers.”

With up to 30 per cent of a typical bank’s customers remaining “in play,” meaning these customers may change their banking relationships or change the amount and nature of their con-sumption as they seek to preserve their financial well being, Accenture points out.

Faced with a shrinking pie and po-tentially unfavorable shifts in the mix of revenue and margins, it is clear banks need to act to: a) keep their best custom-ers and b) selectively gain share by at-tracting the disenfranchised.

The question for chief executives be-comes how, given three major compli-cations:

Scarcity of time, money and talent•Ongoing waves of change that keep •moving the targetCoordination of customer actions •across the organizationThe study says that the ripple ef-

fects of the credit crunch—lost jobs, consumer confidence, homes and sav-ings—have combined to dislocate con-

sumer needs and behaviors and force a realignment of financial priorities. These new realities have created a new customer math for banks and the need for new revenue.

Banks that act quickly, efficiently and at scale to apply tailored treatments stand the best chance of retaining cus-tomers and gaining those put at risk by competitors. Success on this front is predicated on the bank operating and acting in unison. One such “persona” is the mid-to upper income “House-holder”. Customers with this persona seek to maximize their financial assets by moving portions to safer havens in uncertain times. They show a high de-gree of financial self-direction and have a preference for in-person advice when

researching purchases, though the ac-tual transaction may be done online. They are brand loyal and value quality and tailored products and services over price.

By identifying its four or five key cus-tomer personas, a bank can first assess those that are most at risk or present the best opportunities and then determine which segments to focus its top talent and resources on, thus driving appropri-ate action and attention to the highest-value sectors, the study recommends.

However, banks must also keep in mind that their customers’ attitudes are not static. Throughout the relationship lifecycle between customer and bank there are always relevant “moments of truth” when customers may change

The global banking landscape has been forever changed by the credit crisis, leaving issues of trust, customer attrition, brand loyalty and the resulting revenue declines trailing in its wake


their attitudes or behaviors according to shifting context or need. To cap-ture such opportunities, banks have to setup a proactive contact management system that can respond when the nee-dle on the relationship lifecycle moves. Deutsche Bank and National Australia Bank both provide good examples here. Each of these leading banks has devel-oped a state-of-the art triggering engine to support those on the front line in the identification of specific customer events that represent important sales or service opportunities.

Priority customer needs Once a bank has developed a stronger understanding of its customer, it can re-spond to the changed needs created by the current crisis with innovative treat-ments—product and service solutions, pricing and marketing campaigns—coordinated across the organization to deliver tailored offerings that fit the new customer realities.

Accenture says the key is for banks to integrate such mobilization with a renewed emphasis on customer advo-cacy. Intuitive, relevant and compelling treatments can not only boost the loy-alty of existing customers, but also can increase the effectiveness of a bank’s marketing to prospective customers. For instance, in the “Householder” persona the banking experience needs to combine easy to- use online features supplemented by trusted relationship building during face-to-face interac-tions.

The goal is to optimize selling and support services for Householders through tailored deposit or investment products online as well as sell-on poten-tial for higher-margin advisory services in person.

Two factors are of particular impor-tance in helping banks devise the most profitable tailored treatments. The first is enabling customer-facing sales and service representatives in identifying customer needs and attitudes.

By elevating people’s skills and ca-pabilities, banks can enhance their au-tonomy and ability to identify the best

solution for each customer’s needs. A good illustration of this can be seen in Barclays’ “Way Ahead” program in which the bank identifies six impera-tives that its employees should apply to better meet customer needs, Accenture points out. Another is Royal Bank of Scotland’s “Money Sense”, a program the bank developed to improve employ-ees’ financial skills and competencies through a specific training regime with the broader aim of providing in-branch financial advice to anyone that wants it—including customers of other banks and those without bank accounts.

The second factor, according to the report, is sophisticated pricing tools. New technologies can enable banks to model and balance the tradeoffs in dif-ferent offer combinations to find the

ones that provide the most compelling benefits for specific personas without sacrificing margin. Advanced pricing capabilities also can help banks steer clear of simplistic and costly incen-tives—such as cutting or eliminating fees, reducing interest rates on loans or giving higher rates on savings accounts and CDs. While such actions may result in a short-term reduction in churn or a lift in new customers, they do so at the expense of margin and so are unsus-tainable over the long term. For exam-ple, a bank implementing a major credit card re-pricing initiative may adversely impact its depositor relationships.

Having created innovative treat-ments for its target customer personas, a bank can then focus on delivering those treatments through the right mix of

Banks that act quickly, efficiently and at scale to apply tailored treatments stand the best chance of retaining customers and gaining those put at risk by competitors


channels—those preferred by each per-sona and profitable for banks, says the study. For some customers, the branch will always be the primary business venue, but the proportion of consumers who prefer the Internet for most inter-actions is growing. By understanding how each persona wants to do business and tailoring interactions accordingly, banks not only can strengthen custom-er loyalty but also reduce product and service delivery costs.

Accenture says Internet also can be a powerful tool for attracting and building loyalty among new customers through targeted marketing programs. Today’s new Web 2.0 capabilities—such as social networking, blogs and online comparative tools—present new oppor-tunities for forward-thinking banks to reach specific targets or segments more efficiently and forge stronger relation-ships with customers in those segments by, for example, creating a virtual com-munity in which a specific persona or customer segment can congregate, in-teract and discuss common issues.

To ensure new customer initiatives are achieving the desired effects, banks must implement comparable metrics, particularly in the key benchmarks of customer attrition, revenue velocity and revenue volume. If a bank invests in a more customer-centric approach, it needs to know which elements of the customer experience are having the greatest impact on loyalty, satisfaction, profitability and growth.

As it implements improved metrics, a bank must determine whether to use them at the individual customer level or the broader persona level—a deci-sion that largely hinges on the bank’s resources and competitive situation. A bank then must decide how frequently to measure results— quarterly or even monthly—and to what degree of detail. By doing so, it can alter course quickly in response to rapid changes in market conditions, segments or customer de-mands.

Developing the right set of key per-formance indicators (KPIs) is also im-portant. KPIs that gauge long term performance drivers like loyalty, rather

than short-term biases such as cross-selling, can foster a stronger customer orientation and spread it throughout the organization. In this vein, Royal Bank of Canada launched a tailored au-tomatic overdraft protection policy tar-geted to ensure long-run relationships in lieu of immediate revenue gains. Under the policy, after 90 days, any checking customer with at least one deposit and a low credit-risk score received overdraft protection customized to their profile. The policy has not only improved the customer experience and reduced the bank’s bad check handling costs but it has also led to a 13 percent increase in average profit per checking client and a 20 percent increase in high-value clients in just five years.

Accenture says many banks are in a fight for their lives. They need to move fast to cut costs and find new sources of capital to live to fight another day. But without decisive action on the customer front, banks may find themselves win-ning the battle only to lose the war. To

Without decisive action on the customer front, banks may find themselves winning the battle only to lose the war

the extent the industry is shifting from a supply-side, product-driven world to a demand driven one, the driver of this new model is the customer.

Still, once a renewed customer-focused strategy is in place, banks will find the harder work begins. The dra-matic changes to the global marketplace broadly and customer behavior spe-cifically have changed the playing field for good and banks must rethink and restructure their operating models to adapt to and align with the new reality. Banks must follow the four steps today to differentiate themselves by reshap-ing their business model on renewed customer expectations, with the aim of delivering a truly innovative customer experience tomorrow.

“Lesson from the last recession: win-ners grasp the challenges of the moment as an opportunity to improve market share, make bold decisions and create both structural and operational advan-tages to become the high performance banks of the future”.


REAL ESTATE

Some light, finallyConfidence levels are increasing across the region, says JLL

Tenants and occupiers of com-mercial real estate across the MENA region are now begin-ning to awake from the period

of inactivity, with improved sentiment reflecting a consensus that the worst of the downturn has past and now is the time to be repositioning themselves to benefit from the forthcoming recov-ery, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) says in its house view of the regional markets.

The two factors have been identi-fied as an increase in confidence level and the fall in rentals across the region. There has been a clear improvement in business confidence as economies across the region move onto a more positive footing. Strong performance indicators such as oil prices and equity markets have led to positive revisions in fore-casts of economic activity. In the latest such revision, the IMF has increased its 2010 economic growth forecast for the Middle East region to +4.2 per cent, a half per cent forecast increase from its July estimate, JLL points out.

On the other hand, rentals have fall-en significantly in some MENA cities (most notably Dubai) as markets have moved increasingly in favour of tenants and occupiers, resulting in competi-

Rentals have fallen significantly in some MENA cities, most notably Dubai, as markets have moved increasingly in favour of tenants and occupiers, resulting in competitively priced office space being available

of demand is for units of less than 20,000 sq ft, although there remain some active enquiries for much larger areas, the re-port points out. According the analysts, the most active segments of the market include financial services, FMCG com-panies, professional dervices, energy companies and the healthcare sector.

According to JLL, in the worst af-fected markets, rents have adjusted to the level where tenants and occupiers are prepared to take a risk on a further decline, particularly for well specified product in prime locations where some selective shortages are now occurring. This is allowing tenants and occupiers the opportunity to trade up to better quality space while still achieving a ‘cash neutral’ position.

Many tenants and occupiers are seek-ing to take advantage of the availability

tively priced office space being avail-able. Dubai’s position as MENA’s most competitive market is reinforced by the significant reduction in rentals as well as continued confidence in the cities long term prospects, it says.

According to JLL, the improvement in occupier sentiment is being reflected in an increase in the level of active and potential tenant demand in the market-place. JLL says its research shows that active and potential demand in Dubai alone now stands at over 1.5 million sq ft. This has increased ten fold since April 2009 and now stands around three times the level of active demand in the Dubai market one year ago.

Much of this demand is for immedi-ately available space, preferably with a previous tenant fit out in place making a relocation ‘cost-neutral’. The majority


of fitted out space to reduce their relo-cation costs. Others are merging op-erations from multiple locations into a single, better quality facility at a similar or lower rent than they were previously paying.

There is clearly a ‘lag’ period between improving sentiment and actual market activity i.e. deals done. There is, how-ever, clear evidence that the weight of transactions has increased over Q3 and we foresee a continuation of this trend moving forward. It is clear that a signifi-cant component of corporate demand in the MENA region will continue to come from large multi-national businesses, the report points out.

With almost all the Fortune Top 500 companies now represented in the region, most of the growth from this sector will come from the expansion of existing occupiers rather than new en-trants to the market. Jones Lang LaSalle research indicates 75 per cent of this group of major overseas multinationals currently has representation in the re-gion, particularly cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo.

Another sector of the market that has been somewhat overlooked in the MENA region in the past, according to JLL, is small and medium sized busi-nesses (SMEs). Although multi national companies (MNCs) may have the largest employment on a per company basis – employing upwards of 300+ employees, the number of SMEs that employ 20-100 people creates an overall larger employ-ment base. In Hong Kong for example, 40 per cent of employment is attribut-able to MNCs while 60 per cent is at-tributable to SMEs, with 98 per cent of total business establishments being part of the SME sector.

In planning for the global economic recovery, governments across MENA are recognising the importance of creat-ing an environment within which these companies can flourish and develop. This will be one of the most important factors to increase employment and therefore occupancies in office markets across the region, JLL says.

Office markets in MENA have been defined by low vacancy rates and a short-age of good quality space. The next few years are likely to witness an increase in

both the quality and quantity of space being offered to occupiers, with the de-velopment of multiple sub-markets and new office formats including mid to low rise business parks in addition to high rise CBD space, the report points out.

Leading trends identified by JLL in-clude a shift from larger to smaller deals (less than 10,000 sq ft); shift from inves-tors to tenants and occupiers; shift from pre-lets to existing buildings; shift from modest to highest quality buildings and a shift from short to longer term leases. While landlords are not in a position to stimulate additional occupier demand at the level of the whole market – they can certainly influence, the pattern of

demand within any particular market. Owners can proactively attract tenants in the increasingly competitive market conditions by providing incentives, JLL points out.

Looking ahead, JLL points out that with investors increasingly focused on assets offering secure long term income streams, tenant demand is a good lead-ing indicator of potential investor de-mand, with improved tenant demand preceding increased investment activity by 6 – 12 months. The report concludes that markets with the greatest improve-ment in tenant demand would be the ones that are likely to attract the greatest investor demand.

In the worst affected markets, rents have adjusted to the level where tenants and occupiers are prepared to take a risk on a further decline, particularly for well specified products in prime locations

The pointersTenant and occupier sentiment has now reached a tipping point and has im-proved noticeably in the region over the past six months. Tenants and occupi-ers have recognised that favourable market conditions provide them with op-portunities to take advantage of the new, competitive nature of the market.Improved tenant and occupier sentiment has been reflected by a ten-fold increase in the level of active and potential demand in Dubai over the past six months. Though improved sentiment has yet to result in a significant increase in signed leasing activity, Jones Lang LaSalle expects this to occur within the next 6 – 12 months.Recovery in demand will be uneven rather than uniform, with clear “winners and losers” in an increasingly forward-looking market focussed on location and quality. Despite increasing vacancy rates, a shortage of such stock is likely to remain.Proactive owners will recognise the need to cater more closely to tenant and occupier demands. The strategies likely to be recommended are rent free peri-ods and other leasing incentives, along with the provision of longer leases for major anchor tenants and occupiers. Some of the more innovative landlords may also offer finance packages to assist with the initial capital expenditure required for fit-outs. An improvement in demand is a necessary prerequisite to attract long term investors to commercial markets in the MENA region. Jones Lang LaSalle ex-pects strengthening tenant and occupier demand to convert into increased investor demand later in 2010 - which is shaping up to be the ‘vintage year’ in the current real estate market cycle.


ISLAMIC FINANCE

Over $9b sukuk issues in nine monthsS&P attributes slow down to defaults, difficult market

New issuance of sukuk topped $9.3 billion in the first seven months of 2009 compared with $11.1 bil-

lion during the same period in 2008, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.

“The smaller amount of issuance was due not only to the still-challeng-ing market conditions and drying up of liquidity, but also to the less-supportive economic environment in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, par-ticularly in the United Arab Emirates,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Mohamed Damak. “The medium-term outlook for the sukuk market remains positive, though, in our view, given the strong pipeline--with sukuk announced

sukuk market development, however, including:

difficult market conditions, which are slowing the planned issuance of nu-merous sukuk; lack of standardization, notably when it comes to Shariah inter-pretation; and

the low liquidity of the sukuk mar-ket, which constrains investors trying to exit the market in times of turbulence or access the market looking for distressed sellers, S&P said.

While the bond market continued to be active, Islamic equity market per-formance was disappointing. Accord-ing to S&P’s latest Shariah Scorecard, Shariah-compliant stocks underper-formed the broader market in the Gulf Cooperation Council, United States

or being talked about in the market es-timated at about $50 billion--and efforts to resolve the major difficulties imped-ing sukuk market development.”

Malaysia has taken the lead as the major country of issuance for sukuk, ac-counting for about 45 per cent of sukuk issuances in the first seven months of 2009. Issuers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have contributed another 22 per cent of sukuk issued during the same period.

The default of a couple of sukuk was possibly partly responsible for the slow-down in issuance. The silver lining was that these defaults should provide the market with useful information on how sukuk will behave following default.

Major hurdles remain on the path to


and Europe during the third quarter of 2009, as Islamic investors remained on the sidelines while the financial sector rallied.

The S&P Global BMI Shariah In-dex returned 15.46 per cent over the 3 months to September 30, 2009, as in-vestors demonstrated renewed risk ap-petite for equities amid signs the global economy may be stabilising and bid fi-nancial stocks higher. The non-Shariah S&P Global BMI Index, which has a higher weighting towards financials, rose 18.67 per cent over the same pe-riod.

In the Gulf, returns from the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index, com-prised of 165 Shariah-compliant equi-ties listed in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, slowed by more than half to 11.55 per cent from 27.65 per cent in the second quarter. The index marginally underperformed the S&P GCC Composite Index, which returned

12.82 per cent over the third quarter. According to Alka Banerjee, Vice

President, Standard & Poor’s Index Services, “Islamic banks and other fi-nancial institutions operating accord-ing to Shariah principles are continu-ing to underpin the performance of the S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index. However, with limited exposure to fi-nancials outside of the Gulf, Shariah investors are now missing out on some of the upside as the global economy re-covers.”

While volatility is likely to remain a feature of global markets for some time, Banerjee said Shariah indicies and Is-

lamic investing remains a growth story, facilitating the launch of several new Islamic funds, Exchange Traded Funds and a new breed of Shariah-compliant structured products in the MENA re-gion, London and New York during the third quarter.

S&P’s Global Benchmark Shariah Index Series covers 52 developed and emerging markets as well as ten GICS (Global Industry Classification Stand-ard) sectors. It is part of S&P’s family of Shariah-compliant indices, designed to offer a comprehensive set of Islamic investment solutions for both bench-marking and investing activity.

While volatility is likely to remain a feature of global markets for some time, Shariah indicies and Islamic investing remains a growth story


New milestoneA milestone was established in Islamic finance when the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, recently listed a Sukuk on the DIFC’s international exchange, Nas-daq-Dubai.The IFC Hilal Sukuk is a dollar-denom-inated $100 million issue, AAA rated, with a five-year maturity. While this is a symbolic amount com-pared to some of the mega-Sukuk, the Hilal Sukuk offered by the IFC sets a milestone for Islamic Finance and for financial markets in the GCC. It is the first time that a non-Islamic financial institution issues a Shariah-compliant security for term funding, a fact all the more important, considering that the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, is a leading multilateral financial institution, founded in 1956, with a strong reputation on interna-tional markets and impeccable cre-dentials. By issuing a Sukuk, the IFC and the World Bank have recognised Shariah compliant finance and securi-ties as bona fide, valid, and acceptable financial instruments. It is also the first time that a sizeable Sukuk will be listed exclusively in the Gulf, i.e. on Nasdaq Dubai and the Bah-rain Stock Exchange, which represents an acknowledgment of the progress made by the emerging financial sec-tor in the region, in terms of liquidity, but more importantly in terms of the trading, clearing & settlement, and the legal and regulatory environment. In fact the contractual terms of this IFC Sukuk are established under DIFC law (based on English common law), which receives, by a leading issuer, an implicit endorsement as a sound framework on par with those of other well-established jurisdictions. Confirming the maturing of our regional market, the Hilal Sukuk was arranged by a regional syndicate including Dubai Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House Bahrain, HSBC Amanah and Liquidity Management House. With such a high profile precedent the investment banking community

and the legal profession will take no-tice and rest assured that every aspect has been thoroughly tested and can be duly replicated. Hence, in practice the IFC Sukuk rep-resents a historic benchmark for all future Shariah compliant financing operations by sovereign and corpo-rate entities and sets a standard for the whole Islamic finance sector, too often hindered by a lack of standardi-sation, the absence of uniform rules and structures. The IFC Sukuk list-ing documents will provide reference documentation for other issuers from the region and internationally, thereby lowering the cost of issuing Sukuk, making them more competitive with conventional debt. Two additional aspects are notewor-thy. First, the Hilal Sukuk will raise funds for IFC infrastructure and health projects in Yemen and Egypt, stressing the ideal suitability of Islamic finance for the financing of tangible, real as-sets. In a region where the pipeline of infrastructure is estimated at around USD 2 trillion over the next years, the IFC has clearly indicated a direction which others would be persuaded to follow. Second, so far a liquid Sukuk secondary market in the region has struggled to emerge in part because there is a shortage of high quality se-curities compared to the demand by a host of Islamic institutions (which typically buy and hold most of the supply). The IFC Sukuk, rated AAA and likely to commanded a narrow spread with a profit rate of 3.0379 per cent, highlighting the appetite by investors in the region for an issue which was strongly oversubscribed and is likely to attract the attention of the interna-tional financial community. It will pro-vide a benchmark for pricing sovereign and corporate Sukuk, being considered essentially “risk free”. In conclusion, the IFC Sukuk has dem-onstrated that Dubai has the required trading, settlement & custody, physi-cal and legal infrastructure to attract prominent issuers and investors and is

ready to accommodate the needs of the Islamic finance community. It is now up to the governments and the large state owned companies to take advantage of this breakthrough and tap the im-mense pool of wealth owned in the re-gion, but invested in distant locations. Such a course of action would be even more warranted and urgent at a time when the domestic banking system is struggling to extend credit and large international banks, mired in the after-math of the financial crisis, are focused on regaining their balance and rebuild-ing their balance sheets. Given the ease with which capital market products transcend geographical borders, Shari-ah-compliant financing projects which originate in one country can source investors globally. The current infra-structure projects in the MENA and the Asia regions are an unprecedented opportunity to create an Islamic finan-cial market. Infrastructure should be financed through the debt markets and no longer rely on oil & gas revenue. The IFC Sukuk has opened the way to main-streaming Shariah compliant finance. Indeed, the time is ripe for action on two broad fronts: the mainstreaming of Islamic financial services and prod-ucts, and the integration of Shariah-compliant securities into international markets, to become an internationally recognised asset class. The egalitarian nature of Islamic finance, investment disclosure, corporate governance and risk-sharing characteristics are an an-tidote to the uncertainties generated by the ongoing global financial crisis. Islamic finance has come of age and is a viable and credible alternative to conventional financing. DIFC’s strategy and policy measures have succeeded in creating the enabling environment for the establishment of a sound, well-functioning Islamic financial system and achieve banking and financial deepening. Islamic finance is coming of age and is now part of the international financial architecture of markets and products. - Dr. Nasser Saidi


INTERNATIONAL

Pendulum has swungCombination of liquidity, low rates and fiscal spending has worked, says StanChart

The pendulum has swung in recent months from fears of downside risks and the need for policy easing to talk

of recovery and eventual monetary and fiscal tightening. But pendulums do swing back. Thus, talk of recovery needs to be kept in perspective. The world economy has been given a mas-sive push in the right direction through sizeable, sustained, and what looks like successful policy stimulus. The combi-nation of liquidity, low rates, and fiscal spending has worked.

The questions now being asked are, how sustainable is growth? If it is sus-tained, how strong will it be? And how soon can policy be tightened? Pulling these issues together, three words are

Recoveries can be V-shaped, and given how hard the world has been hit, there is a logical reason for believing this could be the case now. But unlike previous US recoveries, this one lacks conviction. Underlying confidence in the US has been dented so badly, the fear is that a private-sector recovery will be sluggish. Policy is driving this pickup, but there are deep worries about the in-crease in debt.

Across Asia, data has been improv-ing for some months. After the hit in Q4-2008 and Q1-2009, there has been a steady improvement in many econo-mies. The improvement in South Korea merits attention – its economy has re-bounded with three successive quar-ters of growth. This is in contrast with

key to the global outlook: growth, bal-ance, and policy.

The growth outlook has improved. But then, given how much money has been thrown at the world economy, it should have done. We are optimistic about near term prospects in the US as previous policy easing feeds through. A few months ago, when we antici-pated strong growth in the second half of the year in the US, this was not the consensus, but that has now shifted. Although emerging economies have been the main growth drivers in recent years, any rebound in the US, by far the world’s largest economy, would be of global significance both directly – in terms of output – and, just as impor-tantly, in terms of confidence.

39

Japan, which, despite a similar output and export picture, has been hit hard. The depreciation of the Korean won and the effectiveness of domestic poli-cy stimulus have been big factors. But we stress that Asia cannot boom if the West is not booming.

Instead, we expect Asia to enjoy steady but still impressive (by Western standards) growth in 2010. India, after being hit by the shock of inadequate monsoons, has shown recent signs of resilience. The trouble in Asia is still its export dependency. While y/y ex-port figures should start to improve, for many

countries, export levels will still be below those seen before last year’s crisis. The pressure remains on Asian economies to drive domestic demand. In China, this is happening.

Asian currencies need to adjustThe need for balance in the world economy has probably never been so acute. There are many facets to this: the West needs to save more, Asia and the Middle East need to spend more, and currencies need to adjust. Whilst all of these are important, the currency issue and the dollar have attracted the most attention recently. The dollar has been a key funding currency. As we ap-proach year-end, leveraged investors may decide to take profits, reversing this process. The overwhelming mood towards the dollar is negative, and it has weakened – but it has not collapsed, and it is always possible that it could bounce, triggered by yearend closing of positions or even by a return of global risk aversion. Just as we stress that the business cycle still exists and the trend is not a one-way bet, it is worth noting that the trend for the dollar – and in-deed sterling – may be down, but there can be periods of strength.

The big problem is the continued recent stability of the Chinese yuan against the dollar. CNY stability is forc-ing many Asian countries to fight to keep their currencies stable to maintain

competitiveness. In turn, this has led to the dollar weakening versus floating currencies, in particular the euro.

There is an overwhelming case for Asian countries to allow their cur-rencies to appreciate, but most will be reluctant to do so until they are confi-dent in the recovery. This leads to the problem of asset price inflation in many countries.

A small number of countries have hiked rates recently, including Israel, Norway, and Australia. As the recov-ery becomes established, domestic fac-tors will drive monetary policy. The dilemma for many countries is that tightening early may attract hot-money inflows as investors seek higher yields. Waiting, however, may trigger asset price inflation, with liquidity flowing into equities and property.

GCC common currencyThe Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries had aimed to introduce a common currency in 2010, but this is

now very unlikely. The UAE did not welcome the decision to locate the cen-tral bank in Saudi Arabia, and its subse-quent decision not to participate in the monetary union should not come as a surprise. Theoretically, introducing a common currency solves two problems. First, it makes any peg more credible by making it irreversible, and makes it impossible for countries to engage in competitive devaluations (as Greece and Italy did before the introduction of the euro). That said, this has never been a problem in the GCC. Second, a common currency eliminates FX risk in the common currency area and reduces transaction costs, thereby encourag-ing intraregional trade. However, given that the GCC economy is dominated by hydrocarbons and services (mostly in non-tradeable sectors like real estate), intra-regional trade would be unlikely to increase even with a common cur-rency.

The idea of having a common cur-rency in the GCC is driven mainly by politics rather than economics. Three conditions would need to be met in order to clear the way for the success-ful introduction of a GCC common

Although emerging economies have been the main growth drivers in recent years, any rebound in the US, by far the world’s largest economy, would be of global significance



currency in the near future. First, it needs to be a GCC currency, with all six member states participating rather than four. The GCC needs to find a compromise to induce the UAE and Oman to rejoin. To make this happen, the GCC should perhaps negotiate all issues at once rather than one at a time (i.e., the location of the central bank). This would make it easier for GCC countries to engage in a give and take bargaining process, reaching a holistic solution.

Second, the central bank needs to have a clear mandate and room to pursue a more independent monetary policy. This implies that the common currency should not be pegged to just one currency. If all GCC currencies are pegged to the US dollar (USD) and the common currency is also pegged to the USD, then the common currency will bring no change from the current situ-ation. It is also important for all mem-ber states to have equal (rather than weighted) voting rights in the central bank so that decision-making is not dominated by just one country.

This could be a concern for small-er countries in the region. Third, the region needs to develop deeper debt capital markets. A more flexible GCC common currency has the potential to become one of the world’s reserve cur-rencies. Central banks of oil-importing countries could choose to hold a small percentage of their reserves in the GCC currency as a natural hedge against ris-ing oil prices. In order for this to hap-pen, the region needs to deepen its debt capital markets and its domestic cur-rency assets.

Pricing oil There is also a view among some in the markets that the GCC countries should price oil against a basket of curren-cies and not in USD. In our view, this is very unlikely. There are three main reasons for this. First, oil prices tend to adjust to reflect changes in the value of the USD, and there are therefore few

benefits of pricing oil any other way. Second, such a decision would have negative implications for the value of the USD, and hence for the USD assets GCC countries hold. Third, the USD is still the most liquid currency and the world’s reserve currency, and it pro-vides the simplest and most transpar-ent way of pricing oil.

We do believe that there would be benefits of de-pegging GCC currencies from the USD and following more in-dependent monetary policies, although this is not currently on policy makers’ agenda. But this is a completely differ-ent issue.

Opposition to pricing oil in USD in countries like Iran and Venezuela is politically rather than economically driven. It is worth noting, however, that diplomatic relations between GCC states and the US are very strong, and that the US still exerts strong influence in the region.

One should also differentiate be-tween the GCC countries de-pegging their currencies from the USD and adopting more independent monetary policies.

Historically, GCC countries have faced inflationary pressures when the USD is too weak and deflationary pres-sures when the USD is too strong. In 2009, as the GCC business cycle has turned down and asset prices have un-dergone violent corrections (real-estate prices in Dubai are down by approxi-mately 50-60 per cent from their 2008 highs), the weak USD and low US inter-est rates are appropriate for the

region. But this is simply a coinci-dence. GCC countries are more likely to experience inflationary pressures be-fore the US does, and monetary policy is constrained by the absence of deep debt capital markets and by the USD peg.(From Standard Chartered Global Fo-cus)

Recoveries can be V-shaped, and given how hard the world has been hit, there is a logical reason for believing this could be the case now

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW November 2009 41

ABN AMRO Bank

Head Office: The Netherlands Dubai Branch, Regional Hub for UAE and Middle East Tel: 04 3512200 P.O.Box: 2567, Khalid bin Waleed Street, Dubai, UAE. Fax: 04 3511555 Non-stop banking service: 04 3080000 (Toll free)

Dubai Branch:Colin Macdonald Country Executive 04 5062601Burhan Khan Head of Consumer Banking 04 5062801 Hassan EI Nahas Head of Private Clients 04 5062301Vishnu Deuskar Head of Global Market 04 5062551Padmanabh Mishra Head Commercial Client Coverage 04 5062701

Abu Dhabi Tel: 02 6963000Corner of Hamdan and Salam Streets Fax: 02 6963001P.O. Box: 2720, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Sharjah Tel: 06 5594900Abdul Aziz Al Majid Building, King Faisal Street Fax: 06 5591009P.O. Box: 1971, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Head Office: Abu Dhabi Mall P.O. Box 939, Abu Dhabi Tel: 02 6962144 Fax: 02 6450384

Branches Al SalamOmar S. Al Tamimi Manager 02 6962486, 02 6666311Khalidiya 02 6669910Al BayahKhaled Al Mannaei Manager 02 8721300Al DhafraYaqoob Al Dosari (Edgar Ruaya / GM in charge) 02 5851030Al MuroorRamzi Al Rimawi Manager 02 4444216Al ShahamaHazim Al Suwadi Manager 02 5633424GHQEssam Husain Al Habshi Manager 02 4415626Tourist Club AreaHadia Dalloul Manager 02 6725178HamdanAbdalla Al Jaberi Manager 02 6335820Sh. Rashed RoadMohamed Al Dosari Manager 02 6213237

CornicheGhassan Kandalaft Manager 02 6275111 MussafahFiras Al Eid Manager 02 5544272Baniyas Town Manager Hamad Salem Rashid Al Junaibi Manager 02 5821550Ruwais Mohammad Ismail Manager 02 8775015Zayed TownDhababa Rashed Obaid Al Mansouri Manager 02 8846180GayathiHaraba Al Mazroui Manager 02 8742155Al BayaOttakath C Mohamed Kutty Manager 02 8721300Al Ghuaifat Pay OfficeOttakath C Mohamed Kutty Manager 02 8723499Al Ain Main BranchMohd. Al Darmaki Manager 03 7543413Al Ain Khalifa StreetSalim Al Darmaki 03 7511322Sinaeyah (Indust. Area)Salem Ahmed Manager 03 7210064Al WaganNayla Al Ameri Manager 03 7352100Al YaharKhamis Sulum Abdun Khamis Manager 03 7815600Al HayerKhalid Omar Eissa Manager 03 7322557RiggahMudhi Al Haj Manager 04 2956969KaramaOmran Abbas Taimour Manager 04 4055135MinaHosam Al Refay Manager 04 3984444Naif Ms. Seema Mohd. Malk Manager 04 6024110Al EttihadSalem Ali Khammas Jammahi Manager 04 3615151 ext. (202)Al QusaisFahd. M. Baroudi Manager Manager 04 2634244Sharjah MainMs. Wissam Moaded Manager 06 5737737Farah Al Ulama Manager 06 5566169Abdulla Al Shamsi Manager 06 5433300Abdullah Fayez Al Shamsi Manager 06 5432006Ajman


Yasmeen Alabid Manager 06 7442111RAKAisha Ahmed Ghareib Manager 07 2335500FujairahMohdAli Hassan Mohd Al Bloushi Manager 09 2224324 DibbaRania Yousef Manager 09-2446700Contact CentreAhmed Abdo Manager 800-2030

Eissa Al Suwaidi Chairman Eirvin Knox CEO Ala’a Eraiqat Deputy Chief Executive OfficerThirry Bardury Head Operations & ITDeepak Khullar Chief Financial OfficerSeumas Gallacher Head - Investment BankingZaki Hamadani Head - legal & Special AssetsSultan Al Mahmoud Head - Human ResourcesAbdirizak Ali Head - Internal AuditAlok Kakar Head - Corporate Finance DivisionRobert Price Head - CreditWalter Pompliano Head - Financial Institution & Intl. DivisionHoward Gaunt Head - Business BankingJasim Al Darmaki Head - Government RelationsArup Mukhopadhyay Head - Retail BankingAhmed Barakat Head - Wealth ManagementYaser Mansour Head - Corporate Communications, Director of Chairman’s Executive Office & Senior Vice PresidentSimon Copleston General Counsel & Board Secretary

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Head Office: Abu Dhabi Najda Street, P.O. Box 313, Abu Dhabi UAE Tel 02 6343000Email: [email protected] Fax 02 6342222Website : www.e-adib.com

Established on 20th May 1997 as a Public Joint Stock Company through the Amiri Decree No. 9 of 1997. The bank commenced commercial operations on 11th November 1998, and was formally inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed Ak Nahyan, UAE Minister of Information and Culture on 18th April 1999. All contracts, operations and transactions are carried out in accordance with Islamic Shari’a principles. Branches

Abu Dhabi Main 02 6168118Aref Ismail Al Khouri Manager Mushref 02 4455177Ezzeldin Nagdy Manager Madinat Zayed 02 6100821 Mohamed Yousef ManagerKhalidiya Ladies Abu Baker Omar Manager Sheikha Al Suwaidi Manager Khalifa Street 02 6100590Omar Aqel Manager

Al AinSinaiya 03 7211777Omar M. Basheer ManagerClock Tower Branch 03 7076444Ali Abdullah Al Manager Dhaheri Al Jimi Mall Branch 03 7633500Ahmed Abdullah Manager Al Boloshi

DubaiAl Twar 04 2611116Ibrahim Alqasser ManagerOpposite Deira City Center 04 3973333Hashim Al Zarooni Manager Shk. Zayed Rd. Mohamed Hussein Zainal Manager 04 4033400

FujairahFujairah 09 2222711Fahad Al Shaer Manager Dibba 02 6100920Ali Mohammed Manager Ras Al Khaimah 07 2284448Saif Hamdan Alkeem ManagerSharjah 06 5075100Ali Essa Alshaqoosh Manager

Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait - Dubai

Head Office: KuwaitRegional Head Office: Dubai Tel 04 2681118Opposite Hamarain Centre, Deira Fax 04 2684445P.O.Box 1719, Dubai, E-mail: [email protected]: www.ahlibank.ae Management & Senior Personnel:Vikram Pradhan General Manager, UAE Vijay Shah Head of Trade Finance & Operations Hiranand Motwani Manager Treasury Krishna Kumar Manager Retail Operations

American Express Bank Ltd

Representative Office, Suite 509 Tel: 04 3975000; Fax: 04 3976986The Business Centre, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street, Bur DubaiP.O. Box 3304, Dubai.Prabir A. Biswas Director & Chief RepresentativeSumit.K.Roy Director-financial institution groupJohn A. Smetanka Head-wealth management-subcontinent and global NRI

Arab African International Bank

Head Office: Cairo, Egypt.Regional Head Office Dubai Tel: 04 3937773ART Tower, Al Mina Street, Opp. Ports & Customs Bldg., Bur DubaiP.O. Box 1049, Dubai Fax: 04 3937774Swift ARAIAEAD, E-mail: [email protected]: www.aaib.comHistory: Established 1964 as the first Arab joint venture bankHemant Jethwani General Manager UAE Dubai Branch: Key ExecutiveAlaa Sobhy Head of syndication and assert tradeAbu Dhabi Tel: 02 6323400; Fax: 02-6216009Arab Monetary Fund Bldg, Corniche Street, P.O. Box 928, Abu DhabiKey ExecutiveHani Hassan Branch Manager

Arab Bank

Head Office Jordan – Amman Tel: 04 2950845; Fax: 04 2024369P.O.Box 950544, 950545Amman 11195 Website: www.arabbank.aeHistory: The Arab Bank Group is one of the principal financial institutions in the Arab world and ranks among the leading international banks in terms of equity, earnings and assets. Established in 1930 in Jerusalem. The Arab Bank Group is


owned by about 4,000 shareholders from all over the world, mainly Arab countires. The Group has a diversified network of over 350 branches worldwide. Abdul Majeed Shoman ChairmanAbdel Hamid Shoman Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive OfficerU.A.E Area Management Mohammad A . Azab Senior Vice President - DubaiSaed Jarallah Senior Vice President – Abu DhabiAladin Al-Khatib Treasury HeadHatem Kurdieh Corporate Banking HeadTareq HajHasan Retail Banking HeadMohammad Mattar Central Operations Unit ManagerHani Hirzallah Regional Manager Human Resources /Gulf RegionTareq Ibrahim Head of Human ResourcesAmmar Al Khayyat Financial ControllarGhassan Nimer IT Center Regional ManagerJihad Ghoury Legal CounselSanjay Malhotra Global Head of Marketing & Product DeveleopmentNasser Maghtheh Senior AuditorAnan Al Khatib Premises & Pruchasing Officer (Engineer)Suleiman Malhas U.A.E Branches Audit Centre Manager

Dubai Al Ittihad Street 04 2950845

Mohammed Azab Branch Manager

Deira 04 2221231Mohammed Elayyan Branch Manager

Abu Dhabi Al Naser Street 02 6392225 Nasser Serries Branch Manager

Al Ain 03 7641328Colock Tower roundabout, Al Ain StreetMaen Jarrar Branch Manager Sharjah Al Arooba Street 06 5618999Maher Al Debis Branch Manager

Ajman 06 7422431Rashid Bin Humaid Street Modhar Kherfan Branch Manager

Ras Al Khaimah 07 2288437Oman Street, Al Nakheel Ali Zatar Branch Manager

Fujairah Sheik Zayed Street 09 2222050Abdel Hamid Qamhieyah Branch Manager Call Centre Within UAE 800 40 43Outside UAE 009714 2953889

Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6721900Regional Head Office, Sh. Hamdan Street, Tourist Club Area Fax 02 6785271P.O. Box 46733, Abu Dhabi Telex 22455 ARBIFT EMEmail: [email protected]: www.arbift.comHistory: Established in 1976 in Abu Dhabi Registered as a Puvlic Joint Stock CompanyManagement & PersonnelIbrahim N. R. Lootah General Manager 02 6952286Hassan S. Kishko Head of Finance 02 6721299M.A. Majid Siddiqui Head of HR & Admin 02 6728785Khalid Mohammed Bin Amir Head of Operations 02 6776109Najib Taleb Nasser Head of Commercial Banking Ahmed Majid Lootah Head of Retail Banking 02 6743801M. Santosh Babu Senior Manager IT 02 6722975Izzeldin Al Siddiq Salem Mgr - Inspection & Internal Audit 02 6780592Osman Hamid Suliman Mgr - Banking Relations Dept 02 6787380

Mir Asif Ali Mgr - Treasury Dept 02 6721600Saidi Zoubir Head of Business Dev. Dept. 02 6723763Tareq S’adi Al Darras Mgr - Credit Risk Management 02 6720886Issam Abugisseisa Legal Advisor 02-6791642Abu Dhabi Main, Sh. Hamdan Street 02 6721900Noora Ebrahim Manager -Sales & Services 02 6780423Souk Branch 02 6269500Al Masaood Building - Khalifa Street, Abu DhabiNasser Rashed Al Ali Manager 02 6275087

Al Ain 03 7655133Mohd. Sultan Al-Darmaki Bldg., 1st Floor, Old Passport Office Road.Hussain Marzouqul Manager 03 7656482

Dubai 04 2220151Arbift Tower, Baniyas Street, DeiraAdel Mohd. Khalfan Manager 04 2282071Al Bagh

Sharjah King Faisal Street 06 5744888Fatima Al Muani Manager 06 5747766

Arab Banking Corporation

Abu Dhabi Office 02 6447666Office, 10th Floor, Abu Dhabi Trade Centre, Abu Dhabi MallP.O.Box 6689, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6444429Mohamed El Calamawy Chief Representative

Arab Emirates Investment Bank PJSC

Head Office: Cairo Egypt Tel: 04 3937773Regional Office: Dubai Fax: 04 3937774ART Tower, Al Mina Road, Opposite Maritime City, Bur DubaiP.O Box 1049 DubaiSWIFT: ARAIAEADE-mail: [email protected]: www.aaib.com

Management-UAEHemant Jethwani General ManagerAlaa Sobhy Head of Syndication and Asset TradeMahendran Raman Head of Operations and LiabilitiesAbu Dhabi Branch Tel: 02 6323400 Fax: 02 6216009Arab Monetary Fund Bldg., CornicheP.O Box 928, Abu Dhabi

BLOM Bank France SA

Dubai Tel 04 2284655Al Maktoum Street, Deira Dubai, P.O. Box 4370 Fax 04 2236260email: [email protected]: www.blombank.aeBassem Ariss Regional Manager 04 2222355Samir Hobeika Branch Manager 04 2214648Michel Germanof Manager Corporate Credit UAE 04 2242067 Mohammad M Ansari Treasurer 04 2224812

Sharjah

PO Box 5803, Al Buheira Tower, Al Buheira Corniche Tel 06 5736100 Fax 06 5736080 Mokhtar Kassem Branch Manager


Bank Muscat

Dubai Representative Office Dubai Creek Tower, Baniyas Road, Deira Tel 04 2222267P.O. Box 29969, Dubai Fax 04 2210115Lawrence P. Monteiro Chief Representative

BBK BSC

Dubai-Representative Office 04 2210560Dubai Creek Tower Office 18A, Baniyas Road, DeiraPO Box 31115 Tel 04 2210560 / 70 Fax 04 2210260 Website www.bbkonline.comHistory: Established on 16th March, 1971

Murad Ali Murad ChairmanKarim Bucheery CEO & GMSh. Rashed Al Khalifa Deputy General Manager

Dubai ReP-Office: CK Jaidev Head of Representative Office Rajiv Kapoor Relationship Manager & Loan Syndications Wafa Al-Alwan Relationship Manager & Loan Syndications

Bank of Baroda

Dubai Zonal Office: Sheikh Rashid Bldg.Ali Bin Abu Talib Street, Bur Dubai,P.O.Box 3162, Dubai Tel: 04 3531628E-mail: [email protected] Fax: 04 3530839UAE Website: www.bankofbarodauae.aeHistory: Established in 1908, July 20Nationalized on July 19, 1969

Senior Management & Personnel – Baroda Corporate Centre, Mumbai, India.Dr. A.K. Khandelwal Chairman & Managing Director Mr. V. Santhanavanam Executive DirectorMr. S.C. Gupta Executive Director

Zonal Office, Dubai:Ashok K. Gupta Chief Executive, (GCC operations) 04 3538093L.J. Asthana Senior Manager (Credit) 04 3531628J.K.Jais Senior Manager (Inspection) 04 3531628P.M. Bondarde Senior Manager (Credit) 04 3531628Sujeet Bhale Senior Manager (Syndication) 04 3531628Rajesh Jain Senior Manager (Internal Auditor) 04 3531517

Abu Dhabi:Al Halami Centre, Sheikh Hamdan Street 02 6330244/ 6322000K. Venkateshwarlu Chief Manager 02 6344302K.Shridhar Senior Manager (Credit) R.G. Shanker Senior Manager (Operations)

Al Ain: Clock Tower, Round about, Planning Street 03 7519880Sarabjeet Singh Senior Branch Manager 03 7659554Vijay Kumar Goel Senior Manager (Operations)

Dubai: Sheikh Rashid Bldg.Ali Bin Abu Talib Street,

Bur Dubai, 04 3531955Vinod Malhotra Asst. General Manager 04 3534516Shekhar Tripathi Senior Manager (Operations) 04 3530166M.K. Patel Senior Manager (Credit) 04 3534080Beena Desai Manager (India Desk) 04 3537586Retail banking Shoppe, DubaiMr. Saravana kumar 04 3534390Mr Ketan Dave 04 3540041Mr Vinay Rathi 04 3540340

Deira Kuwaiti Bldg., Al Rigga, Baniyas Street, Deira 042287949Rajiv K. Garg Chief Manager 04 2286516Yuvraj Singh Senior Manager (Operations) 04 2286216P.K. Gambhir Senior Manager (Credit) 04 2292181R.K. Madaan Manager 04 2292181

Ras Al Khaimah:Al Qasimi Bldg, Oman Street, Al Nakheel 07 2229293P.K.Bhargav Senior Branch Manager 07 2229293

SharjahAl Mina Road 06 5684231/ 5686232M.S. Chouhan Asst. General Manager 06 5683273D. Pathania Senior Manager (Credit) 06 5684231D. Guha Senior Manager (Operations) 06 5686232

Bank of New YorkRepresentative office Tel 02 6263008Suite 402, The Blue Tower, Sh. Khalifa Bin Zayed Street Fax 02 6263308P.O.Box 727, Abu DhabiHani Kablawi Managing Director

Bank of Sharjah

Sharjah Head Office – Al Hosn Avenue Tel 06 5694411 P.O. Box 1394, Sharjah Fax 06 5694422E-mail: [email protected]: Established on 22nd December 1973 with Banque Paribas, Paris

Ahmed Abdulla Al Noman ChairmanVarouj Nerguizian General ManagerMario Tohme Deputy General ManagerFadi Ghosn Deputy General ManagerAli Burheimah Commercial ManagerMohammed Asghar Senior Operations ManagerFares Saade Senior ManagerMichel Germanos Risk ManagerJayakumar Menon Finance ManagerBerj Tossounian Credit Manager - SharjahWahide Assaad IT ManagerJihad Aoun Investment ManagerSamer Hamed Audit & Control Manager Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6795555Al Mina Street, P.O.Box 27391 Fax 02 6795843Ramzi Saba Senior ManagerMazen El Attar Operations Manager- Abu DhabAnni Barsoum Credit Manager - Abu DhabiDubai Tel 04 2827278Al Gharoud Street, PO Box 27141 Fax 04 2827270Nadim Melki Senior ManagerToufic Youakim Credit Manager - DubaiFadi Haddad Operations Manager - DubaiAl Ain 03 7517171Khalifa Street, PO Box 84287 Fax 03 75170770George Dib Branch ManagerRida Higazi Deputy Branch Manager


Bank Saderat Iran

Dubai Tel 04-6035555Regional Office, Al Maktoum Street, P.O. Box 4182 Fax 04 2229951

Dr.Hamid Borhani Regional ManagerAbdul Reza Shabahangi Assistant Regional ManagerMohammad Yousefi Peyhani Assistant Regional ManagerMajid Tavasoli H.R. & Organization Dept. ManagerGholamreza Joulaie Credit Facility Dept. ManagerRahim Erfan Moghaddam Account Dept. ManagerMehran Arzhang Letter of Credit Dept. Manager Majid Mirnasiri Recovery Dept. ManagerHamdi Reza Khalajzadeh Dealing Dept. ManagerHojatollah Malek Mohammadi IT Dept. ManagerMansoor Sedaghat Motlagh Service Dept. Manager Mohsen Hossein Hosseinpour Manager of Al Maktoum BranchGholamreza Ebadi Fard Manager of Murshid Bazar Branch Saeed Mirzaian Tafti Manager of Sheikh Zayed Rd. Branch Ferdos Zolfagharian Manager of Bur Dubai Branch Seifollah Farzan Mehr Manager of Sharjah Branch Jalil Vosooghi Manager of Ajman Branch Ali Abasteh Manager of Abu Dhabi Branch Peyman Sabri Manager of Al Ain Branch

Banque Du Caire

Abu Dhabi Regional Head Office (02) 6225880P.O. Box 533, Abu Dhabi Telefax 02-6225881History: Established on 8th May, 1952 On July 1, 1960 the Amman Branch became independent under the title of Cairo Amman Bank. In July, 1961 the Bank was na-tionalized. On November 2, 1962 the Lebanese branches were absorbed by Banque Misr-Liban S.A.L On October 1, 1979 fo3rmer branches in Saudi Arabia have been saudized and a new bank was formed under the name of Saudi Cairo Bank.

Mohamed kamal Al Deen Barakat Chairman Ahmad Sherif Rehab Regional Manager Abu Dhabi - UAE PO Box 533 Tel: 02-6272525Abu Dhabi Branch Mohamad Kamal Farid (Acting Manager) Tel: 02-6273000Dubai Branch Labib Abdul Ghaffar Tel: 04-2715175Sharjah Branch Tareq Hafez Tel: 06-5739379Ras Al Khaima Mohamad Abdul Ghani (Acting Manager) Tel: 07-2332245Al Ain Abdul Hamid Saeed Tel: 03-7511104

Barclays Bank PLC

Dubai Tel: 04 3626888Emaar Business Park, Building No. 4, Sheikh Zayed Road Fax: 04 3663133P.O. Box: 1891, DubaiWebsite www.barclays.com

Saleem Sheikh Regional Managing Director, Middle East & North AfricaMark Petchell Group Country Managing DirectorAmin Habib Director - Corporate BankingFaizen Mitha Regional TreasurerFarrukh Zain Head of Trade SalesFlorence Goodman Head of Corporate Afffairs & Public RelationsDavid Inglesfield Location Manager - International & Premier Bank-ing Callum Watts-Reham Director, Market Manager, Gulf - Barclays Private Clients

Barclays CapitalDubai International Financial Centre, Level 9, West Wing, The Gate Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Nicholas Hegarthy Managing Director, Head of Middle East & North Africa

BLC Bank (France) S.A.

Head Office17-19 Avenue Montaigne Tel 33 1 56 52 11 0075008 Paris, France Fax 33 1 56 52 11 11Mr. Andre Tyan General Manager

Regional Office Dubai Al Maidan Tower, Al Maktoum St. Tel 04 2222291P.O. Box 4207, Dubai Fax 04 2283935E-mail: [email protected] Melhem Dagher Administration & Operations Manager

DubaiAl Maidan Tower, Al Maktoum St. Tel 04 2222291P.O. Box 4207, Dubai Fax 04 2279861 Hamze Abdul Sater Branch Manager

Abu DhabiMohd. Joan Al Badi Bldg., Hamdan St. Tel 02 6220055P.O. Box 3771 Fax 02 6222055Ghassan Haddad Acting Regional ManagerSamir Rached Acting Branch Manager

Sharjah Al Salam Bldg., Al Mina St. Tel 06 5724561P.O. Box 854 Fax 06 5727843Victor Khoriaty Branch Manager

Ras-Al-KhaimahSheikh Ahmad Bin Saker Al Quasimi Bldg., Al Montaser St. Tel 07 2286222P.O. Box 771 Fax 07 2275067Abd El Hajj Branch Manager

BNP Paribas

Abd Ahmad Al Hajj Branch ManagerAbu Dhabi Tel 02 6130400Khalifa Street, P.O. Box, 2742, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6268638Marc Checri General Manager

Central Bank of the U.A.E

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6652220/6915555Head Office, Al Bateen Area, Bainoona Street Fax 02 6668483/6668621P.O.Box: 854, Abu Dhabi, www.cbuae.gov.aeE-mail: [email protected]: CBAU AE AAReuters dealing code: CBEMHistory Established in 1980 as a central bank of the United Arab Emirates by a federal decree. Central bank took over the activity of the United Arab Emirates currency board which was established in 1973.Management & PersonnelH.E. Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi Governor H.E. Mohd. Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi Deputy Governor

Board of DirectorsH.E. Mohd. Eid M. Jasim Al-Meraikhi ChairmanH.E. Jumaa Al-Majid Vice Chairman


H.E. Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi Governor

MembersAli Al-Sayed Abdulla, Jamal Nasser Lootah, Khalifa Nasser Bin Huwaileel, Saeed Rashid Al Yateem Al Muhairy

Executive DirectorsSaeed Abdulla Al Hamiz Executive Director-Banking Supervision & Exami-nation Dept.Rashid Mohamed Al Fandi Executive Director - Banking Operations Dept.Saif Hadef Al Shamesi Executive Director - Treasury DepartmentSalem Ahmed Al-Hammadi Executive Director - Research & Statistics DepartmentAbdulla Hamad Al-Zaabi Executive Director - Internal Audit DepartmentJamal Ebrahim Al Mutawaa Executive Director - Administration Department

Economic AdvisorsAbed Alla Osama Malki, Mohammed Zeitouni Bechri

Portfolio ManagersMohammed Abdulla Mohammed, Brian Gardner

Anti-Money Laundering & Suspicious Cases UnitAbdul Rahim Mohamed Al Awadi Asst. Executive Director

General Secretariat & Legal Affairs DivisionSalem Said Al Kubaisi Senior Manager

Financial Control DepartmentHassan Ibrahim Al Hamar Senior Manager

Personnel DivisionAli Ghurair Al Romaithi Senior Manager

Correspondent Banking DivisionSultan Rashed Al-Sakeb Senior Manager

Public Relations DivisionAbdul Raheem Abdullah Manager

Information Technology Division/ UAE Switch DivisionKhalifa Al Dhaheri Senior Manager

Dubai Tel: 04 3939777P.O. Box 448 Fax: 04 3937802Omar Al Qaizi Manager-in-Charge

Sharjah Tel: 06 5592592Old Airport Road, Opp. Immigration Bldg., P.O. Box 645, Sharjah Fax: 06 5593977Zakaria Abdul Aziz Al Suwaidi Senior Manager

Ras Al Khaimah Tel: 07 2284444Al Nakheel, Oman Street, P.O. Box 5000 Fax: 07 2284646Salem Jasem Al Baker Asst. Executive Director

Fujairah Tel: 09 2224040P.O. Box 768, Fujairah Fax: 09 2226805Ali Mubarak Saeed Abbad Senior Manager

Al Ain Tel: 03 656656Ali Ibn Abee Taleb Street, Oud Al Touba Fax: 03 664777P.O. Box 1414Ajlan Ahmed Al Qubaisi Asst. Executive Director

Citibank N.A (UAE Branches)

Date of Establishment 1964Nationality USALegal Status

Commercial Banking Services (F)Regional Head Office Oud Metha TowersP.O Box 749, Dubai – UAETel: 04- 3245000Telex: 023 6738736Cable: CITIBAEMSwift: CITIAEADReuters: N/AEmail: [email protected]: www.citibank.aeAuditors: KPMGDomestic Branches: Al Wasl Road Branch (Main Branch) Tel: 04 3245000Oud Metha Road, P.O Box 749 Dubai Branch (Next to Burjuman) Tel: Abu Dhabi Branch Tel: 02 6982206Al Salam Street, Next to Lulu Center Fax: 02 6726381P.O Box 999, Abu DhabiSharjah Branch Tel: 06 5072101Beside Sharjah Emigration, Fax: 06 5723378Opposite Civil Court. Sharjah Al Ain Branch Tel: 03 7641090Sh. Zayed Street Fax: 03 7663887Broad of Directors: N/AGeneral Management: Mohammed E. Al- Shroogi, MD for the Middle East and Chief Executive Officer, UAE Sanjoy Sen, Country Business Manager Global Consumer Group - U.A.EMohammed Azab, Chief Officer, UAE Offices, Citi Private Bank

Clearstream Banking

Dubai Tel 04 3310644City Tower 2, Sheikh Zayed Road Fax 04 3316973Website: www.clearstream.comRobert Tabet Vice President Middle East & North Africa

Commercial Bank International

Dubai Tel 04 2275265Head OfficeDubai Al Riqqa Street Deira , P.O Box 4449 Tel : 04 2275265 Website : www.cbiuae.com Fax : 04 2279038 Hamad Al Mutawaa Chairman H.E. Humaid Al Qatami Deputy Chairman Abdulla Rashid Omran Managing Director and Board Member 04 2242104

Mohammed Saadeh Head of GBG 04 2126500 Abdulla Amer Jasem Head of HR & Admin 04 2126466 Hesham Abdulla Head of Branches & Services 04 6020615 Ahmed Mustafa Tahoun Head of Internal Audit & compliance Division 04 2126603 Ramanthan Murgappan Senior Manpower planning & Recruitment Manager 04 2126444 Zainab Nour Aldin Employee Relations Manager 04 2126 442 Yousef Haddad Planning & Development Manager 04 2126190 Bashir Haji Mohd Chief Dealer 04 2126214 A.D.Abooty Head Of Operations & Finance 04 2126291 K.E Mammoo Accounts Manager 04 2126215 Faris Saddi Chief information Officer 04 2060700 Yousef Al Marshoudi Dubai Branch Manager 04-2275265 Tariq Selaij Bur Dubai Manager 04-3559577 Ameena Bin Kaali Sheikh Zayed Branch Manager 04 3405555 Ahmed Al Junaibi Abu Dhabi Branch Manager 02-6913111 Abdulla Ali Almadhani Al Ain Branch Manager 03 7669994 Mohammed Ishaq RAK Branch Manager (AL Manar Mall) 07 2274777 Ahmed Darwish RAK Branch Manager (Nakhel Branch) 07 2227555


Alyia Al Mulla Sharjah Branch Manager 06 512100 Ahmed Bin Masood Fujairah Branch Manager 09 2011777

Dubai Main Branch (Al Riqqa Street)Yousef Al Marshaudi Branch manager 04 2126101Bur DubaiTariq Sulaij Branch manager 04 3555511Sheikh Zayed RoadAmeena Mhd. Bin Kaadi Branch manager 04 3405555Abu Dhabi Ahmed Sulaim Al Junaibi Branch Manager 02 6264400AL AINAbdulla Ali Branch manager 03 7669994Ras Al KhaimahKhaled Al Mannai Branch Manager (Manar Mall) 07 2274777Ahmed Yousef A. Darwish Branch Manager (Nakeel Branch) 07 2227555SharjahAliya Al Mulla Branch manager 06 5687666

Commercial Bank of Dubai

COMMERCIAL BANK OF DUBAI,P.O. BOX 2668, AL AITIHAD STREET, DUBAITOLL-FREE: 800 CBD (223)TEL: 04 2121000 FAX: 04 2121911E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.cbd.ae

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEEPeter Baltussen Chief ExecutiveYaqoob Yousuf Hassan Deputy Chief ExecutiveIbrahim Abdulla General Manager, Administration & FinanceMahmoud Hadi General Manager, Systems & OperationsFaisal Galadari General Manager, Business GroupAhmed Shaheen General Manager, Credit & Risk Management

HEADS OF DEPARTMENTSStephen Davies Head of Corporate BankingMoukarram Attasi Head of Asset ManagementFrans Jan Burkens Head of Consumer BankingJohn Tuke Head of Treasury & ALMV.P Bhatia Head of Treasury TradingMasood Azhar Head of Strategic Planning DepartmentAmir Afzal Head of Information TechnologyAdel Al Sammak Head of Commercial Banking Kanan Iyer Head of Internal AuditAlan Hill Head of Treasury SalesAbdul Rahim Al Nimr Head of Wealth ManagementBadr Soueidan Head of MarketingNabil Tayyeb Head of Islamic BankingMr. Mohamed Mardood Head of Central Operations DepartmentMr. Hassan Al Redha Head of Financial InstitutionsAkram Gharabeh Head of Financial ControlWaleed Bin Suloom Head of Personal Banking and Alt Banking Chan-nelsJamal Saleh Head of Risk ManagementSalah Omer Head of Legal ServicesRahmatulla Khan Head of Consumer ProductsNigel Foster Head of Human Resources StrategyWafaii Tamimi Head of RecoveryREGIONAL MANAGERS Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ansari AGM, Sharjah BranchIbrahim Salama Regional Manager, Main RegionOthman Bin Hendi Regional Manager, Abu Dhabi & New Dubai RegionAlsayed Mohd. Al Hashimi Regional Manager, Deira Region Marwan Ibrahim Regional Manager, Northern Emirates RegionAhmed Al Aboodi Regional Manager, Bur Dubai Region

Coutts & Co.

Representative Office - Dubai Tel 04 2217007Twin Towers, Baniyas Street, Deira Fax 04 2217006P.O. Box 42220Sarah Deaves CEOSandra Shaw General Manager Martin Bond Private Banker

Calyon Corporate & Investment Bank (Previously Crédit Agricole Indosuez & Crédit Lyonnais) DubaiWorld Trade Centre, Level 32 Tel: 04 3314211P.O.Box: 9256 Fax: 04 3313201Website: www.calyon.comAmr Alkabbani Regional Manager – Gulf 04 3317316Ludovic Bernard-Maissa Regional COO Eric Fromaget Head of Private Banking 04 3321300Sebastian Van der List Head of Corporate Banking – UAE 04 3315836Naeem Khan Trade Finance 04 3291055Albert Mondjian Head of Investment Banking – MEA 04 4284803 Abu DhabiAl Muhairy Centre, Level 5 Tel: 02 6351100Block C, Sheikh Zayed the First Street Fax: 02 6344995P.O.Box: 4725Ghazi Abdul Fattah Branch Manager 02 6351991

Credit Suisse

Abu Dhabi Dhabi Tower, 4th floor, Sheikh Hamdan Street Tel 02 6275048P.O.Box 47060 Fax 02 6274109Jean-Marc Suter Director

Dubai P.O. Box 33660 04 3620000The Gate bldg, 9th Floor Fax 04 3620001Dubai International Finance Centre ( DIFC), Dubai Head of Regional Office Beat Naegell

Deutsche Bank A G

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6333122P.O.Box 52333 Fax 02 6322044E-mail: [email protected] Moeller Representative

Dubai P.O. Box: 50490Emirates Towers, Level 27b Fax 04 3199560Karl French Director Tel : 04 3199514 Private Wealth Management - AsiaNadeem Masud Director Tel : 04 3199524 Global MarketsHarris Irfan Vice President Tel : 04 3199520


Global Equities & DerivativesRohit Johri Vice President Tel : 04 3199522 Private Wealth Management - Asia

Dresdner Bank AG

Dubai Representative OfficeBurjuman Business Towers, 10th Floor, Office 1011 Bur Dubai, P.O. Box: 25654 Tel 04 3596444 Fax 04 3596116E-mail: [email protected]

Bashar A. Barakat Chief Representative Regional Head GCC & Yemen

Dubai Bank

Main Office Sheikh Zayed Road, Near Dubai World Trade Centre Tel 04 3328989P.O. Box 65555, Dubai Fax 04 3290071E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dubaibank.ae

History: Established in September 2002

Ziad Makkawi Chief Executive Officer

Dubai Islamic Bank

Head OfficeAl Maktoum Street, Dubai Tel 04 2953000 P.O. Box 1080, Dubai Fax 04 2954111Website: www.alislami.co.aeHistory: Established March 12, 1975Dr. Mohammed Khalfan Bin- Kharbash Chairman Butti Khalifah Bin DarishAl- Falasi CEOSaad Mohammed Abdul Razzaq Deputy CEOMohd. Saeed Al Sharif Executive Vice President-FinanceArif Ahmed Al Koheji Executive Vice President-Investment BankingAbdullah Ali Al Hamli Executive Vice President - Business ServicesAhmed Mohammed Fadel Legal Consultant and Board Secretary

BranchesDeira Main Branch 04 2959999Al Souk 04 2233300Sheikh Zayed Rd 04-3437777Nad Al Shiba 04 3907777Bur Dubai 04 3971717Jumeirah Ladies Branch 04 3429955Al Barsha 04 3406000Ajman 06 7466555Sharjah 06 5726444Wasit Road 06 5584455Al Dhaid 06 8826682Khorfakan 09 2370080Abu Dhabi 02 6346600Khalidiah Ladies Branch 02 6677119Al Salam 02 6450555Bani Yas 02 5825511Al Ain 03 7644111Al Ain Mall 03 7515155Ras Al Kheimah 07 2284888Fujairah 09 2221550

El Nilein Bank

Abu Dhabi P.O.Box 46013 Tel 02 6269995 Fax 02 6275551Abdulla Mahmoud Awad Manager Tel 02 6720934Mohamed Osman Salih Deputy Manager 02 6761916Murlidhar G. Ramchandani Chief Accountant & Dealer 02-6729300Ahmed Hillali Ahmed Head Investment Dept. & Credit 02-6729300

Emirates Bank International

DubaiMain Branch, Baniyas Road, Deira Tel 04 2256900P.O. Box 2923, Dubai Fax 04 2267718

BranchesAbu Dhabi 02 6455151Hameed Sheikh ManagerAl Ain 03 7510055/77Ghanim Al Hajeri Manager Al Maktoum Ali Malallah ManagerAl Quoz Mohd. Abdulla Manager Baniyas Square Sherif Al Ulama ManagerBander Talib Fareed Aquilli ManagerDubai Main Branch Amal Al Qamzi ManagerFujairah 09 2222114/110 Yousif Al Marshoudi ManagerInternet City 04 3910840/1 Balakrishnan Nair ManagerGalleria Farida Al Balooshi Manager IBN Gardens 04 8844689Hamdan Mohd. Abdulla Manager Jebel Ali Free Zone 04 8815551Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Manager Karama Muna Al Falahi ManagerKarama Shopping Complex Nawal Al Khader ManagerMankhool Abdul Rahim Abdulla ManagerQiyadah Fatima Al Midfa ManagerGhusais Fatima Al Midfa ManagerRamoul Ibrahim Hassan ManagerRas Al Khaimah 07 2272333 Khalifa Bin Kalban ManagerSatwaMohamed Bilal ManagerSharjah Industrial Area 06 5345577Mohamed Al Shouq ManagerSharjah 06 5733300Mahmoud Saif Manager Souk Samia Al Aqady Manager


Umm Suqueim Nazia Kalban ManagerTower Saif Al Mansoori ManagerWorld Trade Centre Abdulla Sulaij Al Falasi ManagerNajdah 02 6771919 Butti Al Assiri Manager

Emirates Industrial Bank

Abu Dhabi - Head Office Tel 02 6339700P.O. Box 2722, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6319191/6326397E-mail: [email protected] Tel 04 2211300Arbift Tower, Deira P.O. Box 5454, Dubai Fax 04 2232320E-mail: [email protected]: www.emiratesindustrialbank.netSenior Management Personnel/Branch ManagerMohamed Abdulbaki Mohamed General ManagerAhmed Mohamed Bakhit Khalfan Deputy General ManagerAbdullah Rashed Omran Dubai Branch ManagerKhalifa Al Falasi Acting Projects Division ManagerAli Ahmed Al Essa Development Services Division ManagerNasser Haji Malek Administration ManagerEssa A. Bu Al Rougha Internal Audit ManagerMohamed Moneir Makled Finance ManagerSalem Abu Baker Salem Acting Loans Division Manager

Emirates Islamic Bank

P.O. Box: 6564, 2nd & 3rd Floor, Al Gurg Tower 1 Tel: 04 3160330Plot 372 - Riggat Al Buteen, Deira, Dubai. Fax: 04 2272172www.emiratesislamicbank.aeEbrahim Fayez Al Shamsi CEO 04 3160330Abdulla Showaiter (General manager – corporate and investment banking) Faisal Aqil General manager – retail banking Ahmed Fayez Alshamsi chief financial officer Syed Imran Bashir Head of marketing and product development Samih Mohd Qadri Awadalla head of branches Nasir Ahmed Khan head of consumer finance Zahir Mulla head of operations

IMB (Main Branch) P.O. Box: 6564, Al Gurg Tower 2, Riggat Al Buteen, Dubai.BUD (Bur Dubai) P.O. Box: 6564, Khalid Bin Walid Road, Dubai.DFR (Diyafa) P.O. Box: 6564, Diyafa Road, Dubai.RIQ (Riqqa) P.O. Box: 6564, Omar Bin Al Khattab Street, Dubai.ADC (Abu Dhabi) P.O. Box: 46077, Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, Abu Dbahi.ROS (Ras Al-Khaima) P.O. Box: 5198, 191 Oman Street, Al Nakeel, Ras Al Khaima.Fuj (Fujairah) P.O. Box: 1472, Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Street, Fujairah.AJS (Al Ain) P.O. Box: 15095, Jawazat Street, Al Ain.QFS (Umm Al-Qaiwain) P.O. Box: 315, King Faisal Road, Umm Al Qaiwain.SBA (Sharjah) P.O. Box: 5169, Al Arooba Bank Street, Sharjah.

Finance House P.J.S.C.

Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Jumaa Al Qubaisi Chairman

Mr. Abdul Hamid Umer Taylor General Manager 02 6194998Mr. T.K. Raman Chief Operating Officer 02 6194889Mr. Mohammed Wassim Khayata Executive VP – Strategic Planning 02 6194445Mr. Ramesh S. Mahalingam Chief Investments & Financial Officer 02 6194601Mrs. Shagufta Farid Khan Head of Internal Audit 02 6194223

Ms. Lina Abdul Hamid I. El Araj Manager – General Services 02 6194702Mr. Tarek Soubra Vice President – Central Operations 02 6194362

Ms. Maha Al Jamal Senior Manager – Marketing 02 6194893

First Gulf Bank

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6816666 Head Office, Sh. Zayed Second Street, Khalidiya P.O. Box 6316, Abu DhabiWebsite: www.fbg.aeHistory: Established in 1979Shareholder Equity of over AED 10 billionSenior ManagementAbdulhamid Mohammed Saeed Managing Director 02 6920502Andre’ Sayegh Chief Executive Officer 02 6920506Amit Wanchoo Head of Retail Banking GroupArif Shaikh Chief Credit & Risk OfficerGeorge Abraham Head of Corporate BankingGopi Krishna Madhavan Head of Human ResourcesHana Al Rostamani Strategic Planning HeadKarim Karoui Head of Business Planning & Financial ControlNadeem A. Siddiqui Head of International BusinessShafiqur Rehman Adhami SR. VP, CB FI\SYN\MNC\OIL & Energy SectorZafar Habib Khan Chief Investment OfficerZulfiquar Ali Sulaiman Business Support Director

Habib Bank A.G. Zurich

Head Office: Zurich, SwitzerlandZonal Office: Dubai Tel 04 2214535Baniyas Square Deira, P.O. Box 3306 Fax 04 2284211E-mail: [email protected]: www.habibbank.comHistory: Established in 1967Reza S. Habib Joint President Arif Lakhani Chief Executive Vice President 04 2229985Asad Habib Senior EVPAfzal Memon Senior EVP Shariq Ali Senior EVPDeira Mains 04 2214535Najibullah Khan Branch Manager Farrukh Iqbal Deputy Branch Manager Corporate 04 3513777 Awais Hasan Branch ManagerSharjeel Vijdani Deputy Branch Manager Al Fahidi Street 04 3534545Zain Ghazali Branch ManagerAbdul Basheer Deputy Branch Manager Jebel Ali 04 8812828Nisar Chowdhary Branch Manager Ifthikhar Memon Deputy Branch ManagerSh.Zayed Branch 04 3313999Zia Abbas Mirza Branch ManagerKashif Aijaz Dodhy Deputy Branch Manager

Abu Dhabi Sh. Hamdan 02 6346888Imamat Naqvi Area Manager Farhan Bakhshy Branch Manager Al Falah 02 6422600Syed Akhtar Hussain Branch Manager Raid Saleem Ansari Deputy Branch Manager Sharjah 06 5730004Al Boorj Avenue Younus Warsi Area Manager Kausarullah Khan Branch Manager


Habib Bank limited

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6224688Main Branch, Corniche Road, P.O.Box 897, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6225620E-mail: [email protected]: Established on August 25, 1941Nationalised on January 1, 1974 On June 1974 absorbed Habib Bank Ltd. On June 30, 1975 absorbed Standard Bank Ltd., KarachiAman Aziz Siddiqi EVP/RGM 04 3597753Mohammad Tanvir HR. Manager 04 3592292Fouad Farrukh GRM 04 3592214Sh. Abdul Basit AVP/CAD Manager 04 3592539M. Amin Usman AVP/Treasury 04 3591893Ahmed Faraz Faruqi VP/Head ICU 04 3592517Nadeem Zia VP/Head FINCON 04 3592292Syed Ali Gohar VP/IT/Head 04 3592820Abdul Shahid Khan VP/Head Cops 04 3591874Abu DhabiSh. Zayed Road, 2nd Street Mushtaq H. Shah Service Manager 02 6344557Abu DhabiMain Branch M. Saadat Cheema VP/Chief Manager 02 6224655Al Ain 03 7642555Abdul Jalil Al Fahim Bldg.Adbul Hameed Khan AVP/Senior Manager 03 7642555Dubai Regional Office Sahibzada M. Taimur SVP/Corporate Manager 04 3596922Sameera Mohammad Service Manager 04 3592016Sheikh Zayed Road, Kalantar Tower Khalid Bin Shaheen SVP/Director 04 3431421Mahdi Hassan Business Development Manager 04 3438081Isar-Ul-Haq Service Manager 04 3438081Deira Branch, Creek Road Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhatti Service Manager 04 2253292Sharjah 06 5682552 / 5683473Al Boorj AvenueAssad Ali Shaikh AVP/Branch Manager 06 5695122Dhaid & Dibba 06 8822249Near Al Dhaid Police Station 06 8822249Abdul Sattar Badi Service Manager 06 8822249

HDFC Bank

Representative Office: Dubai Tel 04 3966991Juma Al Majid Bldg., Opp Bur Juman Centre Fax 04 3967010P O Box 64546, Email: [email protected] Saeed Cheif Representative Tel 04 3966991

HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd

Head Office: Jersey, Channel IslandMiddle East Management Office, Dubai Internet City Tel: 04 3904722 Fax: 04 3906607HSBC Bldg., Dubai Internet City, P.O. Box: 66, Dubai, UAE Web: www.hsbc.aeUAE Web: www.uae.hsbc.com

Youssef Nasr ChairmanDavid Hodgkinson DirectorKen Matheson Regional Chief Operating OfficerAbu Dhabi 02 6332200/6152215Al Ain 03 7641812Dubai 04 3535000

Deira 04 2227161Fujeirah 09 2222221Jebel Ali 04 8846133Ras Al Khaimah 07 2333544Sharjah 06 5537222

IndusInd Bank

Dubai Representative Office Tel 04 3978803203, Safa Commercial Bldg. Fax 04 3978805Opp. Bur Juman Centre, P.O. Box: 111873, Dubai.E-mail: [email protected] Gupta Vice President & Chief Representative 04 3978804

ING Asia Private Bank Ltd

Dubai Representative Office Tel 04 4277100602, Level 6, Building 4 Fax 04 4257801Burj Dubai SquareSheikh Zayed RoadP.O Box 4296, Dubai – UAE Suresh Nanda Managing Director & HeadEric Lorentz Managing DirectorVarun Bukshi Executive DirectorMelwyn Dias Executive Director

B.R. Subramanian DirectorP.G. Bhaskar DirectorRanjit Paul DirectorPiyush Bhandari DirectorNitin Bhatnagar DirectorRishi Chauhan DirectorAsad Dadarkar DirectorAshraf Al Yamani Director

InvestBank

Sharjah Tel 06 5694440Al Boorj Avenue, P.O. Box 1885 Fax 06-5694442E-mail: [email protected]: www.invest-bank.comHistory: Established on 2nd February 1975 as Investment Bank for Trade & Finance On July 1, 1995 name changed to Investbank.Sami Farhat General Manager Qasim Kazmi AGM. Operations & Treasury Taleb Zaarour Senior Manager-ADM & LegalAthar Anis Manager, Credit Risk Bassam Hollmerus Chief DealerSajjad H. Holimerus Trade FinanceMadhu Pilakazhi Financial Controller Ghassan Accari Personnel Manager Vinay Gupta IT ManagerDubai 04 3213131Sheikh Zayed RoadDubai 04 2285551Al Maktoum StreetAl Ain 03 7644446Al Ghaba StreetAbu Dhabi 02 6794594Sh. Khalifa streetAbu Dhabi 02 5555336Mussaffa Area Sharjah 06 5420333Industrial Area


Janata Bank Abu DhabiObied Sayah Al-Mansuri Building Tel No 02-6331400Electra Road, Post Box No. 2630 Fax : 02-6348749Email [email protected]. Md. Masuduzzaman Chief Executive 02-6344543Mr. Md. Chaynul Haque IT Manager/SPO 02-6340881Mr. Md. Ramjan Bahar System Administrator/PO 02-6340881 Abu DhabiMr. Mohamudul Hoque Manager 0 2-6344542DubaiMr. Md. Abdul Awal Manager Mohammad Saleh Al-Gurg Building 0 4-2281442Al-Borj Street, P.O. Box 3342Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman ManagerSharjah Saqer Bin Rashid Al Quassim BuildingAl Suwaiheen Street, P.O. Box- 5303 0 6-5687032Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman ManagerAl Ain Branch Mr. Md Shahadat Hossain ManagerSk. Khalifa Bin Mohd. Al-Nahyan Building, Main Market Centre, Main Street,P.O. Box- 1107 0 3-7513425

Lloyds TSB Bank plc

Dubai Main BranchAl Wasl Road, Opp. Safa Park Tel 04 3422000P.O. Box: 3766, Dubai, UAE Fax 04 3422660E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.lloydstsb.aeVivek Vohra Head of Corporate OriginationGiles Cunningham Regional Manager, UAE & Gulf States 04 3023267Bert de Ruiter Managing Director 04 3023267Steve Williams Consumer Banking Director 04 3023267 Jon Mortell Head of Corporate Banking 04 3023266Suresh Jadhwani Treasury Manager 04 3023256Tim Goddard Head of Operations and IT 04 3023250Derek Vaz Head of Finance and Planning 04 3023330Caroline Ridley HR Manager 04 3023270Steve Snowdon Head of Middle OfficeAlex de Melo Head of Treasury Trading Edson Suppo Head of Treasury Strategy & Risk Claire Thomas Head of Human Resources

Dubai Customer Service CentresCommunity Centre at Arabian Ranches, Dubai Tel 04 3023318 Fax 04 3618035Dubai Healthcare City (Behind Wafi City) Tel 04 3023349 Fax 04 3624805

Man Investments Middle East Limited

Representative Office Dubai Tel 04 3604999Level 5, West Wing, The Gate, Dubai Internaional Financial Centre Fax 04 3604900P.O. Box: 73221, DubaiWebsite: www.maninvestments.comE-mail: [email protected] Merville Chief Executive OfficerKamlesh Bhatia Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Mashreqbank

Dubai Tel 04 2223333Head Office, Omar Bin Al Khatab Street, Deira Fax 04 2226061

P.O. Box 1250, Dubai History: Established on 1st May, 1967 as Bank of Oman Limited. On October 1st 1993 name was changed to MashreqBank PSC.bdullah Al Ghurair President and ChairmanAbdul Aziz Al Ghurair CEOAli Raza Khan Head of Corporate AffairsDouglas Beckett Head of Retail BankingOmar Bouhadiba Head of Investment and Corporate BankingNabeel Waheed Head of Treasury and Capital MarketsNigel Morgan Head of Audit Review & ComplianceMajid Husain Head of Financial InstitutionsSomnath Menon Head of Operations & TechnologyKantic DasGupta Head of Risk ManagementAlexander Sinclair Head of Technology Mubashar Khokhar CEO of Badr Al IslamiEbrahim Kazi Head of Marketing and Corporate CommunicationsSaad Hakim Events and Public Relations ManagerAl Khaleej Street, Deira 04 2717771Souq Al Kabir Branch 04 2264176Hor Al Anz, Deira 04 2623100Jumeirah Branch 04 3441600Jebel Ali 04 8815355Khor Branch 04 3534000Bur Juman Centre 04 3527103Al Riqa, Deira 04 2229131Al Aweer 04 3333727Abu Dhabi 02 6274300Main Branch, Khalifa StreetMusaffa 02 5555051Zayed the 2nd Street 02 6334021Al Salam Street 02 6786500Al Mushrif 02 4432424Baniyas 02 5821100Muroor 02 4481858Khalidiya 02 6665757Al Ain 03 7667700Al Ain Main Street Ali Ibn Abi Tailb St. 03 7669968 Ajman 06 7422440Shk Humaid Bin Abdul Aziz Street, Near Ajman MuseumFujairah 09 2221100 Sh. Hamad StreetRas Al Khaimah 07 2361644King Faisal Street.Al Nakheel RAK 07 2281695Sharjah Main 06 5684366Bank Street, RollaKing Abdul Aziz Street 06 5730883Dhaid 06 8822899Main Street, Sh. Arsan Hameed Bldg., DhaidDibba 09 2444230Kalba 09 2777430Kalba CityKhorfakkan 09 2385295Umm Al Quwain 06 7666948 King Faisal Street, Next to New Souk

Merill Lynch International & Co.C.V

Representative Office Dubai (04) 3975555Business Center Building, Khalid Bin Walid StreetP.O. Box 3911, DubaiTelefax 04-3975252Executive Director Mones Bazzy


NATIXIS

Dubai Branch Tel 04 7026777DIFC Gate Village Fax 04 7026820Building No. 8, 5th FloorP.O Box 33770Email: [email protected]: www.natixis.frPhilippe Petitgas CEO

National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Head Office: Abu Dhabi 02 - 6111111One NBAD Tower, Khalifa St., P.O. Box 4, Abu DhabiTelex 22266/7 MASRIP EMHistory: Established in 1968H.E. KHALIFA MOHAMED AL KINDI ChairmanH.E. DR. JAUAN SALEM AL DHAHIRI Deputy ChairmanMICHAEL H. TOMALIN Chief ExecutiveABDULLA MOHAMMED SALEH ABDULRAHEEM GM & Chief Operating OfficerSAIF ALI MOHAMED MUNAKHAS AL SHEHHI GM Domestic Banking DivisionQAMBER ALI AL MULLA GM International Banking DivisionABHIJIT CHOUDHURY GM & Chief Risk OfficerJOHN GARRETT GM & Chief Audit & Compliance Officer

Abu DhabiMain Branch 02 - 6111111Khalidiya 02 - 6666800Dept. of Social Services & Commercial Buildings 02 - 6346673ADCO 02 - 6672642ADMA 02 - 6263225ADNOC 02 - 6669143Abu Dhabi Municipality 02 - 6744749NPCC 02 - 5549282 ZADCO 02 - 6768821HILTON 02 - 6812280Abu Dhabi International Airport 02 - 5757303Sheikh Rashed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Road 02 - 6419800Abu Dhabi Mall 02 - 6452200Arabian Gulf Road 02 - 4478878Baniyas 02 - 5831625Bateen 02 - 6658332Between The Two Bridges Area 02 - 5589446Corniche 02 - 6220300Dalma Island 02 - 8781240TAMM 02 - 8945528Das Island 02 - 8731099Liwa 02 - 8822388Madinat Zayed 02 - 8846146Government Complex 02 - 8945428Al Mirfaa 02 - 8836506Al Ruwais 02 - 8776343Al Muroor 02 - 4481918Mussafah 02 - 5553357Dept. of Social Services & Commercial Buildings (Mussafah) 02 - 5520681Mussafah Municipality 02 - 5540300Industrial City of Abu Dhabi 02 - 5501125Al Salam St. 02 - 6442900Al Shahama 02 - 5632411New Al Shahama 02 - 5635695Abu Dhabi Municipality-Shahama 02 - 5631385Sweihan 03 - 7347919Marina Mall 02 - 6816002Al Etihad 02 - 6111111Emirates Palace 02 - 6908900National Exhibition Centre 02 - 4494996

Mina Road 02 - 6767665

Al AlinAl Ain Clock Tower 03 - 7642400Al Ain 03 - 7516900Al Ain Cement Factory 03 - 7828060Al Ain International Airport 03 - 7855511Al Ain Defence 03 - 7688824Al Sanaiya 03 - 7213222Al Hayer 02 - 7322400Al Ain Mall 03 - 7519900

AjmanAjman 06 - 7422996

DubaiDeira 04 - 2226141Dubai Side 04 - 3599111Jebel Ali 04 - 8815655Sh. Zayed Road 04 - 3433311 Al Qusais 04 - 2674176Jumeirah 04 - 3499001Mall of the Emirates 04 - 3413888

FujairahFujairah 09 - 2222458Dibba 09 - 2444223

Ras Al KhaimahAl Nakheel 07 - 2281753 Ras Al Khaimah 07 - 2334333

SharjahAl Bourj Avenue 06 - 5695500Sharjah 06 - 5721111Al Falah Camp Office 06 - 5385969Al Dhaid 06 - 8822929Khorfakkan 09 - 2385250Kalba 09 - 2772112

Umm Al QuwainUmm Al Quwain 06 - 7660033

National Bank of Bahrain

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6335288Khalaf Bin Ahmed Al Otaiba Building, Sh. Hamdan Street Fax 02 6333783P.O.Box 46080Email: [email protected]: www.nbbonline.com

Farouk Khalaf UAE Country Manager 02 6335299Ingersoll Ramalingam Manager Credit 02 6311248

National Bank of Dubai

Dubai Tel 04 2222111Head Office Baniyas Street, Deira Fax 04 2283000P.O. Box 777 Email: [email protected]: www.nbd.com


History: Established in1963 as National Bank of Dubai Limited. In 1994 name was changed to National Bank of Dubai.

R. Douglas Dowie CEOJoyshil Mitter CFOAlex Richardson COOLeslic Rice CROAbdul Shakoor Tahlak CM - Intl.Ghanim Bin Zaal CM - Business DevelopmentAli Al Najjar CM - LiabilitySuvo Sarkar Head of RetailRajesh Thaper Head Of CorporateFaranak Foroughi Head of TPOHusam Al Sayad Head of HRG. Krishnamoorthy TreasurerSue Evans Head of IS&TAlan M. Smith Head of Group AuditA. Chandran Head of BPQMWalid El Masri Head of Corp CommRashmi Malik Head of StrategyAbdul Fattah Sharaf GM NFSMohamed Al Neaimi GM AqaratAli Kaitoob Head of Dist. RetailP.S. Sastry SM CEO’s OfficeHesham Qassimi Divisional Manager Corporate Banking

Abu Dhabi P.O. Box: 386 Tel : 02 6394555 Fax : 02 6346767Ajman P.O. Box: 712 Tel : 06 7456555 Fax : 06 7456060Ajman Archives Tel : 06 7444606 Fax : 06 7425883Al Mizhar Tel : 04 2641221 Fax : 04 2640569Al Ain P.O. Box: 16122 Tel : 03 7644345 Fax : 03 7668515Burjuman Centre Tel : 04 3555222 Fax : 04 3554455Bullion Tel : 04 2284757 Fax : 04 2289090Convention Centre Branch Tel : 04 3320808 Fax : 04 3320908Dubai Central Fruit & Vgtbl. Mkt Branch Al Awir Tel : 04 3333880 Fax : 04 3333870Dubai International Airport Tel : 04 2200404 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai International Airport Pay Office Tel : 04 2164946 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162450 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2166995 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162452 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162434 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162740 Fax : 04 2244614Dubai Media City Pay Office Tel : 04 3902007 Fax : 04 3908855Deira City Centre Tel : 04 2951555 Fax : 04 2951525Dubai Airline Centre Tel : 04 2952555 Fax : 04 2955655Dubai Airport Free Zone Tel : 04 2995550 Fax : 04 2995557Dubai Courts Tel : 04 3366702 Fax : 04 3353906Dubai Media City Pay Office Tel : 04 3030400 Fax : 04 3908855Emirates Tower Tel : 04 3300133 Fax : 04 3300155Fahidi Tel : 04 3535575 Fax : 04 3535575 Emirates Tower Tel : 04 3530308 Fax : 04 3534601Emirates Tower Tel : 04 2823400 Fax : 04 2823640Fahidi Direct Banking Tel : 04 3532840 Fax : 04 3531443Fujairah Branch P.O. Box: 1744 Tel : 09 2233335 Fax : 09 2233336Hamriya Tel : 04 2663189 Fax : 04 2690103Hatta Tel : 04 8523183 Fax : 04 8521051Ibn Battuta Mall Branch Tel : 04 3685499 Fax : 04 3685501Ittihad Road Tel : 04 2955600 Fax : 04 2955611Jumeirah Branch Tel : 04 3420202 Fax : 04 3421112Jebel Ali Tel : 04 8816087 Fax : 04 8816961Main Office Tel : 04 2222111 Fax : 04 2283000Maktoom Branch Tel : 04 2281141 Fax : 04 2235456Malleq Emirates Branch Tel : 04 3410777 Fax : 04 3410707Muhaissnah Branch Tel : 04 2544545 Fax : 04 2544646Nadd Al Shiba Tel : 04 3363939 Fax : 04 3363788Oud Metha Branch (Ex-Gulf Tower Branch) Tel : 04 3370222 Fax : 04 3366145Ras Al Kaimah P.O. Box : 1932 Tel : 07 2279888 Fax : 07 2279889

Rashidiya Tel : 04 2859523 Fax : 04 2854847Souk Madinat Jumeirah Branch Tel : 04 3686130 Fax : 04 3686195Sh. Zayed Road (Saeed Tower) Tel : 04 3313183 Fax : 04 3310629Sharjah P.O. Box : 21850 Tel : 06 5738888 Fax : 06 5733000Umm Al Quwain P.O. Box : 22 Tel : 06 7656154 Fax : 06 7655151Emirates Tower Tel : 06 7656152 Fax : 04 3300155Umm Suqeim Tel : 04 3485222 Fax : 04 3482535

National Bank of Oman

Abu Dhabi Bin Sagar Towers, Najda Street Tel 02 6348111 / 6323456P.O. Box 3822 Fax 02 6325027Ravi S. Khot Country Manager 02 6393028Salim Al Khanjri Manager - Operations 02 6392535Minhajuddin Niazi Manager - Consumer Banking & Business Development 02 6326560K.K. Gambhir Manager - Corporate Banking 02 6394922

National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain

History: Established in 198224/7 Call Centre Number: 600 56 56 56 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nbq.aeSh. Nasser Bin Rashid Al-Moalla Managing Director Mohamed Abdel Rahim Al Mulla General Manager

Umm Al Qaiwain Branch Tel: 06 7066666NBQ Building, King Faisal Street Fax: 06 706 6677P.O.Box 800, Umm Al QaiwainFalaj Al Mualla Branch Tel: 06 8824447NBQ Building, Shaikh Zayed Street Fax: 06 8824445P.O.Box 11074 Falaj Al MuallaDubai Branches Tel: 04 3976655NBQ Building, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street Fax: 04 3975382P.O. Box 9715 Dubai Deira Branch Tel: 04 2651222Opposite Dubai Police Head Quaiter Fax: 04 2651333Al Ittihad Street, P.O. Box 8898 Deira, Abu Dhabi BranchHamdan Bin Mohammed Street (# 5) Tel: 02 6775100P.O. Box 3915 Abu Dhabi Fax: 02 6779644Mussafah Branch Tel: 02 5555088P.O. Box 9770 Abu Dhabi Fax: 02 5553559Al Ain Branch Tel: 03 3751300Oud Al Touba Street Fax: 03 7513500Al Mandoos RoundaboutP.O. Box 17888 Al AinSharjah Branch Tel: 06 5742000King Faisal Street, Fax: 06 5742200P.O.Box 23000 SharjahNBQ Kiosk Fax: 06 5742200Sharjah Mega MallP.O.Box 23000 SharjahAjman BranchesCity Center Branch Tel: 06 7436000Ajman City Center Fax: 06 7436060P.O.Box 4133 AjmanMasfout Branch Tel: 04 8523377 NBQ Building Fax: 04 8523093Main Street P.O.Box 12550 Masfout, AjmanFujairah Branch Tel: 09 2232100Fujairah Insurance Co. Building Fax: 09 2232220Hamad Bin Abdulla RoadP.O.Box 1444 Fujairah


Ras Al Khaimah Branch Tel: 07 2366444Corniche Al Qawasim Road Fax: 07 2364470P.O.Box 32253Ras Al Khaimah

Philippine National Bank

Dubai Representative Office Room 108, Al Nakheel Bldg., Zabeel Road, Karama Tel 04 3365940P.O. Box 52357, Dubai, UAE Fax 04 3374474E-mail: [email protected] Tillah Rasul First Vice President & Regional Representative

Rafidain BankAbu Dhabi Tel 02 6335882 / 3 Al Nasser Street, Glass Bldg. Fax 6326996P.O.Box 2727, Abu Dhabi Salah Mahid Branch Manager

Royal Bank of Canada

Dubai Representative Office Tel 04 3313196API World Tower, Suite 1002, Shk. Zayed Road, P.O. Box: 3614. Telefax 04 3313960Umaima Zaman senior managerAshwani.k.Dewitt senior managerGlobal Private BankingAshish Anand Chief Representative

RAK Bank

Ras Al Khaimah Head Office, Oman Street, Al Nakheel Tel 07 2281127P.O. Box 5300 Fax 07 2283238E-mail: [email protected]; www.rakbank.aeHistory: Established in 1976 as The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah. In 2003, name was changed to RAKBANK

H.E. Sheikh Omar Bin Saqr Al Qasimi ChairmanH.E. Sheikh Salim Bin Sultan-Al-Qasimi DirectorMr. Hamad Abdulaziz Al Sagar DirectorMr. Essa Ahmed Abu Shuraija Al Neaimi DirectorMr. Majid Saif Al Ghurair DirectorMr. Ali Samir Al Shihabi DirectorMr. Yousuf Obaid Essa DirectorMr. Graham Honeybill General ManagerMr. Ian Hodges Head of Personal BankingMr. Anil Sukhia Head of Corporate BankingMr. Steve O Hanlon Chief Operating OfficerMr. Geoff Harman Head of Internal ControlsMr. Jose Braganza Head of CreditMr. Malcolm D’Souza Head of TreasuryMr. Nigel Summersall Chief Internal AuditorMrs. Susan Gardner Head of Human ResourcesMr. Venkat Raghavan Head of FinanceDubaiDeira Maktoum Branch Tel : 04-2248000Deira Souk Branch Tel : 04-2248000Umm Hurair Branch (Bur Dubai) Tel : 04-2248000Sultan Business Center ( Dubai Main Branch) Tel : 04-2248000Sheikh Zayed Road Branch Tel : 04-2248000Emaar Business Park Branch Tel : 04-2248000Marina Diamond Branch Tel : 04-2248000Al Quoz Branch Tel : 04-2248000Al Qusais Branch Tel : 04-7058444

Ibn Battuta Mall Branch Tel : 04-3685890SharjahSharjah Main Branch Tel : 06-5746888Sharjah Industrial Area Tel : 06-5132666Kalba Branch Tel : 09-2778707Khorafakkan Branch Tel : 09-2371900Al AinAl Ain Branch Tel : 03-7644222Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi-Tourist Club Branch Tel : 02-6448227Khalidiya Branch Tel : 02-6666658Ras Al KhaimahRAK Town Branch Tel : 07-2333744Sha’am Branch Tel : 07-2666833 Badr Branch Tel : 07-2448822Al Mannei Branch Tel : 04-8525999Al Rams Branch Tel : 07-2662434Al Dhait Branch Tel : 07-2351147Al Nakheel Branch Tel : 07-2281127

Sharjah Islamic Bank

Mohammed Abdalla Chief Executive Officer 06-5115116Ahmed Saad ibrahim Chief Operating Officer 06-5115118Mohammed Rizwan Chief Risk Officer 06-5115172Saeed M Ahmed Al Amiri Head, Investment Group 06-5115000Ossama Salah El Din Head, Retail Banking 06-5115339G . Ramkirshinan Head of Coroprate Banking Group 06-5115111Hussam A. Abu Aisheh SVP-Chief Internal Audit 06-5115153Mohammed Ishaq Chief Dealer 06-5115151Mohamed Azmeer Head of Credit Division 06-5115319Eman Jasim Sajwani Head of Human Resources Group 06-5115170Myron Britto Head, nformation Technology Div.-CIO 06-5115444Sufyan Maysara Head of Shariaa Supervision Divison 06-5115213BranchesMain Branch - Al Brooj Avenue Mohammed Yousif 06-5115121King Faisal Street Branch Abdul Salam Al Ali 06-5746805Ladies Branch Laila Ali Salem 06-5746807American Unversity Branch Mohd Mousa Ali 06-5585789Al Dhaid Branch Khalid M. Ajmani 06-8829414Industrial Area Branch Waleed Abdul Qadir 06-5397623Sharjah Expo Branch Jassim Al Awadi 06-5992502Sharjah Buhaira Branch Osama Ahmed AlSalman N/AKhorfakhan Branch Yousif M. Abdullah 09-2387490Dibba Branch Ali Al-Abdouli 09-2442601Kalba Branch Abdullah Bin Hikal 09-2774204Fujairah Branch Nawal Mohamed AlMaghribi 09-2244339Dubai Branch Mohamed Ibrahim Alghufili 04-2698322Sheikh Zayed Branch Maisoon Zainudin 04-3217543Al Twar Branch Maha AlBanna 04-2638335Abu Dhabi Branch Thomas P.Y. 02-6224166Al Ain Branch Majid Sha’abaan 03-7513200

Shuaa Capital PSC

Head Office Tel: 04 3303600/ 04 3199778Emirates Towers Hotel, Level 7 Fax: 04 3303550P.O. Box: 31045, Dubai, UAE.Website: www.shuaacapital.com Iyad Duwaji CEOAbeer Ayash Marketing and PR coordinator

Societe Generale

Dubai DIFC Gate Village, Bldg. 6, 4th Floor Tel.: 04 4257500


Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Fax: 04 3653170 Website: www.socgen.com Alain L. Tave Chief Regional Representative

Standard Bank Plc - Dubai Branch (DIFC)

Dubai Emirates Tower, Office-16 B Tel 04 3300011P.O. Box 504904 Fax 04 3300169Website: www.standardbank.comJeffrey Rhodes General Manager 04 3300164Kate Lunjevich Head of Compliance & Operations

Standard Chartered Bank

Head Office: United KingdomDubai Main Branch Tel 04 3520455 Head Office: Al Fardan Building, Fax 04 3526679 Mankhool Road, Bur Dubai P.O. Box: 999, Dubai - United Arab Emirates www.standardchartered.com/ae/Phone Banking: +9714 3138888 (24 hours)Dubai Branch P. O. Box 999, Al Mankool Road, Dubai , UAE 04-3599550Deira Branch P. O. Box 1125, Al Nasr Square, Dubai, 04-5085300Gold Souq BranchP. O. Box 64555, Gold Souq, Dubai , UAE 04-2262699Jebel Ali BranchP. O. Box 16920 , Jebel Ali, Dubai , UAE 04-5085200Sharjah BranchP. O. Box 5, Al Boorj Avenue, Sharjah , UAE 06-5916100Hamdhan BranchP. O. Box 240,Al Fardan Tower ,Abu Dhabi, UAE 02-6165600Istiqlal BranchP. O. Box 241, Istiqlal Street, Abu Dhabi UAE 02-6165400Al Ain BranchP. O. Box 1240, Near Clock Tower, Al Ain, UAE 03-7056800Dragon Mart BranchP. O. Box 4166, Dragon Mart mall, Dubai, UAE 04-5085260Emaar Business Park BranchP. O. Box 103669,Building 3 ,Dubai , UAE 04-5085255Wealth Management CenterP.O Box 999, Jumeira Beach Road, Dubai UAE 04-5085706

The Housing Bank for Trade & Finance

Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 44768 Tel 02 6268855/6270280 Fax 02 6271771Muhanad Habashneh Representative

Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises UBAF

Dubai Creek Tower, Baniyas Road, Deira Tel 04 2284080P.O. Box 29885 Fax 04 2284070Hamed Hassouna Chief Representative GCC & Yemen

UBS AG

Abu Dhabi ADNIC Bldg., 5th Floor, Sh. Khalifa Street Tel 02 6275024P.O.Box 3744 Fax 02 6272752Website: www.ubs.com

Roger Leitner Senior Representative

DubaiCreek Tower, Office 17A, Baniyas Road, Deira 04 2240044Peter Schaer Senior Representative 04 2220006

DIFC Gate Village, Bldg. No. 6, 5th Floor Tel.: 04 3657150Sheikh Zayed Road Fax: 04 3657191P.O Box 506542Per Larsson Senior Representative

Union National Bank

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6741600Head Office, Salam Street, P.O.Box 3865, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6786080Website: www.unb.aeHistory: Established as a Public Joint Stock Company in 1982Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan ChairmanMohammad Nasr Abdeen Chief Executive OfficerAbu Dhabi Corniche 02 632 1600City Centre 02 627 3471Najda 02 632 4981Hazzaa 02 641 2288Khalidiya 02 635 2511Adgas Booth 02 627 0611Musaffah 02 555 9111Shahama 02 563 4600Baneyas 02 582 1886Al Dhafra/Madinat Zayed 08 884 8484Al Muroor 02 444 8384Al AinSh. Khalifa Street 03 7644551Al Jimi 03 7626240DubaiMain Branch, Deira 04 2211188 Al Maktoum Street 04 2232266Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road 04 3516444Al Bustan 04 2636388Jebel Ali 04 8810999Sheikh Zayed Road/Jumeira 04 3329911Rashidiya 04 2857686

Ajman Central - Emirates Post 06 7425552Fujairah 09 2222747Ras Al Khaimah 07 2286600Sharjah 06 5686141King Abdul Aziz 06 5746161

United Arab Bank

General Management & H.O. Tel 06 5733900Sh. Abdulla Bin Salim Al Qassimi Building, Al Qasimia St., Sharjah Fax 06 5733906E-Mail Address [email protected] www.uab.aeHistory: Established 1975

Bertrand Giraud General Manager 06 5733900Awni Alami Dy. General Manager 06 5733900Gibert Hie Asst. GM-Corporate & Retail 06 5733900Arif Premdjee Asst. GM-Admin. & Finance 06 5733900


United Bank Limited

Dubai Gargosh Bldg, Khalid Bin Waleed Street Tel 04 3552020P.O. Box 1367, Dubai Fax 04 3514525Email: [email protected]: www.ubl.com.pkWajahat Husain Head of Middle EastMaruf Ahmed General Manager UAE

Wachovia Bank National Assoc.

Representative Office Dubai The Atrium Centre, Khalid Bin Waleed Street, Bur Dubai 04 3556244P.O. Box 53089 Fax 3557117Head Office: USA

J.Kennedy Thompson Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Heavener International DivisionDubai Branch:Chafic Haddad Vice President & Regional Manager Carol Hampson Customer Services Representative

Documents

Banking & Business Review Nov 09