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Greece: Aon Hellas to insure Parson's project
Middle East: Aon Risk Services names commercial chief
Algeria: Société Générale targets 80 agencies by 2009
Syria: President inaugurates Islamic bank joint venture
UAE: Emke unveils new credit card
UAE: New co-branded credit card from Mashreq, Etisalat
Middle East: Central bank for GCC to be set up by 2010
Greece: 36 tonnes of nuts seized in Thessaloniki
Greece: Recall on 190 Suzuki GSX1300RK8 motorbikes
UAE: Sama Dubai's project passed environmental review
UAE: JP Morgan executive probed on Dubai bank's fraud
Greece: Aon Hellas to insure Parson's project
Naftemporiki, 11 Jun 2008,:-
Aon Hellas (part of the Aon Corporation group) has undertaken the insurance of the corporate responsibility of the Maliakos-Klidi motorway project, which has been awarded by Aegean Motorway Group of Greece to the US company Parsons, and is budgeted at EUR 700mn (US$ 1.1bn).
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Middle East: Aon Risk Services names commercial chief
Insurance Day, 12 Jun 2008, p.06:-
Aon Risk Services has named Christof Bentele Chief Commercial Officer for the Middle East region. Bentele will be responsible for business development and client-facing operations. He will take up the role with immediate effect.
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Algeria: Société Générale targets 80 agencies by 2009
Le MOCI, 29 May 2008, p.34:-
Société Générale Algeria (SGA), a subsidiary of the French banking group, is looking to expand its offer from banking, vehicle fleet management and consumer credit to include insurance. The bank has already partnered with 7,000 small enterprises to provide insurance and financing and it expects to continue developing this offer. SGA also plans to reach a total of 60 offices in 2008 and 80 in 2009. There are already 47 agencies, 21 of which are located in Algiers. Such growth will require investment in human resources, and the bank has its own training centre to provide seminars. Consumer credit is growing in Algeria, with outstanding debt estimated at EUR 2bn (US$ 3.13bn), SGA says that it is working to develop solutions.,
Syria: President inaugurates Islamic bank joint venture
Syria Times, 08 Jun 2008, Online:-
The Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB), which is a joint venture between Qatar and Syria, has been officially launched by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Syrian investors hold a 51% share in the bank, while Qatari investors hold a 19% share and the International Islamic Bank of Qatar holds 30% of the shares. The bank, which has a capital of SY£ 5bn (US$ 97.85mn EUR 62.96mn), has planned to diversify its investment and financial portfolios.
A Takaful-based company called Syrian Islamic Insurance has been established by the bank and is pending approval from the authority to allow investments in the Takaful company from Syrian and Qatari investors. SIIB is also embarking on its expansion in Syria by opening new branches in Tartous, Lattakia, Homs and later in the rest of the country. Currently, it has six branches, including four in Damascus, one in Hama which will be opened in late June 2008 and another one in Aleppo.
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UAE: Emke unveils new credit card
Gulf News, 11 Jun 2008, Online:-
The Lulu retail chain operator Emke Group (Emke) of Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) have jointly launched a co-branded MasterCard to the local market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The card comes in three categories including platinum which carries issuance and renewal fees while no fees are impsoed for the gold and silver card categories. Emke hopes that the new card will help to encourage its customers to spend more at its LuLu chain as well as attracting new customers.
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UAE: New co-branded credit card from Mashreq, Etisalat
AME Info, 16 Jun 2008, Online:-
In the UAE (United Arab Emirates), a new co-branded credit card has been introduced by Mashreq, a local bank and telecommunications operator Etisalat in a tie-up with Visa International. Offered in Classic, Gold and Platinum, the Etisalat-Mashreq credit card will allow customers to get free talk time from Etisalat for each Dirham they spent using the card.
Etisalat 'More' points will also be awarded to customers using the new card for purchase, apart from other perks like phone, online mobile banking as well as travel insurance and roadside assistance. Classic cardholders will be offered 3,000 'More' points, 6,000 points for Gold cardholders and 12,000 points for Platinum cardholders.
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Middle East: Central bank for GCC to be set up by 2010
Khaleej Times, 10 Jun 2008, Online:-
The central bank governors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have agreed that a joint central bank will be established in 2009 and therefore meet the 2010 deadline. This move is part of the Monetary Union (MU) effort and all the governors have stated their commitment towards the establishment of the central bank although inflation is on the rise currently. A monetary council will also be established either in 2008 or 2009 after the draft for setting up the council was approved by the governors.
Meanwhile, the plan for a single currency is expected to be implemented after 2010 as high inflation rates in the GCC countries are the main obstacle towards realising the plan. The Gulf states, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have also agreed to collective responsibility should any changes on the foreign exchange policy occur.
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Greece: 36 tonnes of nuts seized in Thessaloniki
Kathimerini, 12 Jun 2008,:-
Thessaloniki's authorities confiscated some 36 tonnes of peanuts, imported to Greece from China, after tests found them to contain high levels of aflatoxins, which is a type of fungus.
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Greece: Recall on 190 Suzuki GSX1300RK8 motorbikes
Naftemporiki, 12 Jun 2008,:-
The Greek car and motor dealership of Sfakianakis (the official dealer of the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki in Greece) has ordered the recall from the domestic market of 190 Suzuki motorbikes, models GSX1300RK8 (HAYABUSA), and manufacturing numbers JS1CK111100100741 to JS1CK111100103998, due to possible manufacturing and mechanical faults.
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UAE: Sama Dubai's project passed environmental review
AME Info, 15 Jun 2008, Online:-
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), environmental consultant HMR has reported that the local marine environment was not affected by the initial dredging works performed by Sama Dubai on the construction of its mixed development project Salam Yiti-Oman project, as announced by Sama Dubai on 14 June 2008. The project valued at US$ 2bn (EUR 1.28bn).
Sama Dubai has also received recommendations, operational guidelines and eco-friendly designs from Energy Management Systems (EMS) on the project. The project includes an integrated residential resort, more than 20 restaurants and three five-star hotels. Sama Dubai is a unit of Dubai Holding.
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UAE: JP Morgan executive probed on Dubai bank's fraud
The Asian Wall Street Journal, 16 Jun 2008, p.6:-
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), US-based investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co's (JP Morgan) Omair Mooraj has been detained by the Dubai police for a financial inquiry in regards to a fraud investigation of Dubai Islamic Bank. Omair Mooraj is a senior Middle Eastern executive of the US bank.
© Esmerk
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Issue 17 | July 2008