kuwait lender reaffirms its commitment to healthy ... · nogaholding, the holding company for oil...

ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

34BUSINESS

Kuwait lender reaffirms its commitment to healthy lifestyle and fitness

Gulf Bank hails success of inaugural ‘Gulf Bank 642 Marathon’KUWAIT CITY, Nov 24: Gulf Bankhails the success of the inaugural GulfBank 642 Marathon, the first accredit-ed international marathon road raceever to be held in Kuwait. The Bankalso congratulates the winner in eachrace category, and extends its appreci-ation to those who participated andvolunteered to make the event a suc-cess.

Along with our partner, Pro-VisionSports Management, we are happy toofficially announce the winners (maleand female) and their timings for eachof the five race categories as: ■ Full Marathon (42-km): YehaElsayed (2:47:06) and HannahGlendinning (3:47:17)■ Half Marathon (21-km): MaaliBabikir (1:13:45) and SamanthaHegarty (1:43:13)■ Souq Run for regular runners (10-km): Fawaz Farhan (0:34:43) andRenata Hoppova (0:43:49) ■ Family Fun Run for beginners (5-km): Naif Rabea Shalan (0:19:27) andIrene Gibson (0:24:31)■ Special Run for special needs (5-km): Faraj Sultan

The race, which was held on Nov 14,welcomed 2,400 participants from 74countries, and the participants were 64percent male and 36 percent female.There were several teams of walkersand runners, from various organiza-tions and backgrounds. The route wasalong the Gulf Road and took in manyof Kuwait’s famous local landmarks,

including Seif Palace, Kuwait Towers,the National Library, the new CentralBank of Kuwait building, SouqMubarakiya, and the Gulf Bank head-quarters office.

The Bank was pleased that three ofthe race categories were accredited bythe Association of InternationalMarathons and Distance Races (AIMS)and the International Association ofAthletics Federations (IAAFAthletics). AIMS is a member basedorganization of more than 380 of theworld’s leading distance races from

over 100 countries. IAAF Athletics isthe world governing body for the sportof track and field athletics. Once acourse is AIMS certified, only then isIAAF able to recognize any worldrecords which might take place on thecourse. Three categories (10-km, 21-km, and 42-km distances) of the GulfBank 642 Marathon were AIMS certi-fied. These races now appear in theinternational calendar of races andserve as qualifying races for otherevents. The Gulf Bank 642 Marathon isthe only full road race marathon to be

held in Kuwait and is called 642 in ref-erence to the number of muscles in thehuman body.

Gulf Bank sponsored the race toraise awareness about the importanceof a healthy lifestyle and to encouragepeople in Kuwait to include regularexercise and physical activity as part oftheir daily life. The marathon has heldon World Diabetes Day (WDD) to helpraise awareness of the growing prob-lem of diabetes in Kuwait, and howexercise and fitness can play an impor-tant role in combating this major health

issue. In the lead up to the event, the Bank

and its partners held a social mediacompetition where people shared theirfitness journey in preparation for theGulf Bank 642 Marathon. Two win-ners were selected and their prizesincluded a personalized health and fit-ness transformation program whichincluded: 4 nutritional consultationsby Dasman Diabetes Institute; 16 per-sonal training sessions by Circuit+Gym; food supply by Quest; culinaryclasses and food supply by Saveco;

and full training gear from ExtremeSports.

On race day, all our partners werealso on site for the event in the SouqSharq pavilion area, where there weremany other vendors and activities. Welook forward to welcoming everyoneto the Gulf Bank 642 Marathon in2016!

To find out more about the GulfBank 642 Marathon, visit the dedicatedwebsite at:www.gulfbank642marathon.com or itsInstagram account GulfBank 642.

Moody’s Investors Service, one of theleading rating agencies in the world,recently reaffirmed the Aa3 InsuranceFinancial Strength Rating (IFSR) ofICIEC for the 8th consecutive year.

In its report, Moody’s noted thatICIEC’s rating reflects both the stand-alone fundamentals as well as poten-tial support from its shareholders/IDBGroup member countries. Thus,despite the absence of explicit guar-antees, in the context of its key role

as facilitator of trade between Islamiccountries, ICIEC’s rating reflects thestrong ability and potentially high will-ingness of ICIEC’s main ultimateshareholders, and in particular theIDB (Aaa Stable), and its MemberCountries, to support the company intimes of financial distress.

Furthermore, the rating reflectsICIEC’s legal structure and businessnature as the only multilateral exportcredit and investment insurance cor-

poration in the world that providesShariah-compatible insurance andreinsurance products, as well as itsenhanced regional knowledgethrough its experience gained byoperating in the region. Furthermore,Moody’s view positively ICIEC’s fullmembership in Berne Union ofexport credit insurers, which ensuresthat ICIEC meets the legal, risk man-agement and capitalisation require-ments for full membership.

Moody’s reaffirms Aa3 rating of ICIEC

Nogaholding, the holding companyfor oil and gas assets owned by thegovernment of Bahrain, is seekinga $350 million sharia-compliantloan in what would be a first for thegroup, banking sources aware ofthe matter said on Tuesday.

The firm joins a number of otheroil and gas companies, includingSaudi Aramco and Abu DhabiNational Energy Co., which havesought to raise money from banks

in the past few months to helpcushion their finances against theeffects of lower oil prices.

Nogaholding is looking to arrangethe Islamic five-year loan before theend of the year, with the proceeds tobe used for general business pur-poses, two sources aware of thematter said on condition of anonymi-ty as the information is not public.

Nogaholding, which holds stakesin companies including Bahrain

Petroleum Company (Bapco) andBahrain National Gas Company(Banagas), could not immediatelybe reached for comment.

The company was looking for aninterest rate of around 250 basispoints over the London interbankoffered rate (Libor), but recent mar-ket moves could see this pushedup towards the 300 bps mark,according to one of the sources.(RTRS)

Bahrain’s Nogaholding seeks debut $350 mln loan

(Left): Participants at the start of the marathon. (Right): Participants seen in action during the event.

(Left): Aerial view of the marathon. (Right): Photo shows special needs participant.

Dari Al-Reshaid Al-Bader, SeniorDirector — Corporate strategy BD

and M&A at Alghanim Industries.

AUB head office.

CAR at 16.4 pct in Dec 2014

IFSB releases second set ofPSIFIs data for its membersKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24: TheIslamic Financial Services Board(IFSB) is pleased to announce thesecond dissemination of itsPrudential and Structural IslamicFinancial Indicators (PSIFIs) from 16member countries. The PSIFI data,which aims to provide data on thefinancial soundness and growth ofthe Islamic banking systems in par-ticipating IFSB member jurisdic-tions, covers the quarterly data fromDecember 2013 to December 2014.

Secretary-General of the IFSB, MrJaseem Ahmed stated that “The sup-port of multilateral organisations –such as the IMF, ADB and IDB –have greatly assisted the progress onthis project. It is our aim to continueto expand the scope of the PSIFI toinclude the participation of new juris-dictions, as well as expansion of datato the Islamic capital market andTakaful sectors of the industry”.

The first set of data was releasedon 27 April 2015 covering the periodas of December 2013. The secondrelease adds the indicators for thefour quarters of 2014, with necessaryadjustments and revisions to the ear-lier data set. It thus provides morecomplete data than the earlier releaseas many member jurisdictions haveimproved their data collection andconsolidation framework for Islamicbanking industry in line with therequirements of PSIFIs project.

The Task Force on PSIFIs – whichincludes representatives from 16member jurisdictions as well as inter-national organisations such as theIMF – updated some indicators afterthe first release to enhance their clar-ity and consistency across jurisdic-tions. In the new release, a number ofjurisdictions have also started report-ing of the data on macroprudentialindicators such as assets held bydomestic systemically importantbanks, leverage ratio, as well as liq-uidity coverage ratio (LCR).

Capital adequacy provides an

important indication of health offinancial soundness of banking indus-try in a jurisdiction. As at December2014, the average capital adequacyratio and average Tier 1 capital ratiofrom 13 jurisdictions were 16.4% and14.6 % respectively, slightly lowerthan the ratios of 17.1% and 15.4%recorded as of December 2013respectively. For other jurisdictions,these ratios were higher than 30%.

Islamic banking industry in thePSIFIs member countries maintaineda growth momentum in the key struc-tural Islamic financial indicators dur-ing periods under report. Based on theavailable data, the total assets of theIslamic banking industry grew fromUSD 1,200 billion in 2013 to USD1,308 billion in 2014, with a growthrate of 9.0% (converting countrywideaggregated data into US dollar terms,at end period exchange rates). [Thegrowth rate in total assets is, however,12.8% when calculated at December2013 exchange rates.] Totalfunding/liabilities recorded a doubledigit growth of 12.7% from USD 962billion in 2013 to USD 1,084 billion in2014. In terms of Shar¥`ah-compliantfinancing, the growth rate was 5.7%,which reached USD 688 billion in2014 from USD 651 billion in 2013.The data on “financing by type ofShar¥`ah-compliant contracts” revealsthat four major financing contractsused by Islamic banking industry in2014 were: MurÇbahah (28.0%),commodity MurÇbahah/Tawwaruq(26.8%), IjÇrah/IjÇrah MuntahiaBittaml¥k (16.3%), and Bai BithamanAjil (5.8%).

On asset quality indicators, grossnon-performing financing ratio(gross non-performing financing tototal financing) showed an improve-ment with a decrease from 6.4% in2013 to 6.3% in 2014.

A similar trend is also apparent inthe net non-performing financing tocapital ratio which decreased from20.4% in 2013 to 20.2% in 2014.

Event to take place in San Diego from Nov 25 to 28th

Alghanim Industries sponsors NUKS USA Branch confabKUWAIT CITY, Nov 24: Alghanim Industries, one of the largest private companies inthe region, has announced its sponsorship for the 32rd annual conference of theNational Union of Kuwaiti Students (NUKS) USA Branch, the conference will takeplace from Nov 25 to 28 in San Diego, California, under the slogan of “AwakeningKuwait’s Dream”.

Senior Director — Corporate Strategy, BD, and M&A at Alghanim Industries, DariAl-Reshaid Al-Bader said: “We, at Alghanim Industries, value the role of education indeveloping the economy, and finding creative solutions for the challenges we face

today. We seek to always be present in events that improve education and raise the stan-dard for Kuwaiti students, such as the annual conference of the National Union ofKuwaiti Students (NUKS).”

He added: “This conference gathers Kuwaiti students from all areas of the UnitedStates. Students enjoy it as a social activity, while we see it as an important opportuni-ty to reach the maximum number of our special students. As part of our sponsorship thisyear, we will host a private workshop for merit scholars in the US, where we present tothem different potential career paths and opportunities, with a few tips that will guide

them in starting successful careers.Alghanim Industries will also sponsor apanel discussion entitled ‘She’s a Leader’on women in leadership positions. Inaddition to that, we will have our employ-ees present to answer students’ questionsabout the company, and the opportunitiesto be part of Alghanim Industries. I amalso excited to announce that I will be onthe judging panel of the ‘BusinessStartup’ competition, taking place duringthe conference.

In 2014, Alghanim Industries launched“Alghanim Industries Future LeadersProgram” (AFLP) that extends over 12months, and is designed to providerecent, high-potential Kuwaiti graduateswith a comprehensive introduction to thedifferent businesses and support func-tions in Alghanim Industries, includingworld-class training and developmentactivities. The company also offers sum-mer internship opportunities for currentuniversity students, offering them expo-sure to the private sector culture and gainwork experience during their summerholiday.

‘Award bears testimony to our efforts to be our clients’ trusted partners’

AUB named ‘Best Private Bank in Mideast’MANAMA, Nov 24: Ahli United BankGroup has been recognised as ‘BestPrivate Bank in the Middle East’ byGlobal Finance, the leading internationalbanking and finance publication.

Global Finance said the world’s topproviders of private banking and wealthmanagement services were selectedbased on entry submissions, marketresearch, input from industry analystsand executives, and other users of privatebanking services.

“These awards provide an independentanalysis of those firms that offer thedeepest experience, best value and high-est level of customer service within theprivate banking realm,” said JosephGiarraputo, publisher and editorial direc-tor of Global Finance.

Prakash Mohan, Group Head, AUB,said: “We are gratified to see the qualityand strength of our private banking serv-ices recognized by the world’s leadingand most authoritative banking andfinance publications.

These distinguished awards bear testi-mony to our continued and successfulefforts to be our clients’ trusted financialpartners, providing them with world-class expertise, highly individualizedservice and tailor-made solutions whichmeet their specific objectives andneeds”.

“Our regional footprint means clientscan benefit from our collective expert-ise, knowledge and resources acrossMENA markets while our well-estab-lished presence in the UK opens up aworld of opportunities when it comes tomanaging and growing their hard earnedwealth”.

Senior trio leave UAE’s NBADDUBAI, Nov 24, (RTRS): Three seniorbankers have resigned from NationalBank of Abu Dhabi, the United ArabEmirates’ largest bank by assets, sourcesaware of the matter told Reuters.

Gary Dugan, chief investment officer andhead of investment strategy, left the bankaccording to three of the sources, with oneadding he would be joining Emirates NBD.

The source did not say what Dugan’sposition would be at Dubai’s largestlender, although he was previously chiefinvestment officer of ENBD’s privatebanking arm prior to a role at Coutts,which he held before joining NBAD.

Galen Moore, the head of NBAD’s equity

market-making, has also left, three sourcessaid. Two of the sources said Andrew Baxter,managing director of global markets e-com-merce, had left the bank as well.

A spokesman for NBAD declined tocomment on the departures and ENBD’sspokesman did not immediately respond toa request for comment in relation to Dugan.

Until recently, NBAD had embarked ona period of heavy recruitment as it built upits focus on emerging markets from WestAfrica to East Asia. Moore and Baxterworked within the bank’s global marketsbusiness, which provides trading servicesin domestic, regional and internationalmarkets, according to NBAD’s website.