Islamic finance is part of the sevenpillared plan to make Dubai a global capital of Islamic industry, economy and finance. There have been several recent developments and initiatives undertaken in order to achieve this objective, which was declared last year by Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Maktoum, the prime minister and vice-president of the UAE, and the…
The practice of retaining a percentage of the risk and local or legal cession is done in order to develop the local market to become fair and competitive. In contrast to retention requirements, which impose a percentage of risk insurers need to retain themselves, local cession is usually imposed by regulators as a way to…
With Dubai’s recovery from the last property bubble burst being now tangibly felt, are there any lessons to be learnt from the events that lead to an unprecedented increase in construction disputes? Antonios Dimitracopoulos, Partner and Head of Construction with Bin Shabib & Associates, examines how lack of trust is essentially the cause of damaged relationships…
As population and legislative change drives GCC insurance market growth, Michael Kortbawi and Amira Janine El Masry of Bin Shabib & Associates look at the current regulatory position. What is happening and why? “According to a report by A.M Best on insurance market growth in emerging markets, this market experienced 21% growth in the GCC…
Mamoon Ashraf of BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP examines a growing trend towards greater consumer protection in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and wider region. Overview ’75 Million’. This figure represents the total number of visitors to one of the many shopping malls in Dubai last year (you can hazard a guess as…
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) board of directors recently approved the final form of the Regulation for Sukuk. The regulation enumerates the rules for the issuance and principal listing of Sukuk; rules for Sukuk trading, clearance and sett lement; and rules for the issuance and listing of Sukuk concerning applicants. The regulation states that…
The method used to tap the real attitude of the main Islamic industry players in Lebanon has raised several questions: • Can Lebanon be an attractive hub for the Islamic finance industry? • Can Lebanon attract those investors? • What can Lebanon offer? • What is the real problem, if any, impeding the newborn finance…
The DIFC, Dubai’s, Common Law jurisdiction has recently amended its arbitration law in order to expand the jurisdiction of its Courts with regard to staying proceedings in favour of arbitration. Antonios Dimitracopoulos, Partner and Head of Arbitration at BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates LLP, DIFC, looks at the long term repercussions of this recent development,…
The global economy has experienced much uncertainty in recent years, however 2014 is predicted to be much healthier. Both Michael and Nadim have witnessed this up-tick. “We have definitely experienced an increase in activity through the first quarter of 2014,” says Michael. “Dubai has especially felt this surge in activity with the announcement in late 2013 of…
Corporate governance is the underlying set of principles by which good business practices are conducted in the country. The hallmark of good corporate governance is the balance of entrepreneurship, control and transparency while supporting a company in the efficient decision making processes. Nadim Bardawil discusses their impact on businesses. To read full article CLICK HERE and…