Rai Alyoum: Largest gold reserves by Middle East central banks:
Saudi Arabia: 323.1 tons, at $ 26.3 billion, amounting to 4.9% of central bank foreign reserves
Lebanon: 286.8 tons, at $ 23.3 billion, amounting to 59.8% of central bank foreign reserves
Algeria: 173.6 tons, at $ 14.1 billion, amounting to 15.5% of central bank foreign reserves
Iraq: 148.3 tons, at $ 12.1 billion, amounting to 10.2% of central bank foreign reserves
Libya: 146.7 tons, at $ 11.9 billion, amounting to 12.1% of central bank foreign reserves
Egypt: 126.6 tons, at $ 10.3 billion, amounting to 21.4% of central bank foreign reserves
Qatar: 106.4 tons, at $ 8.7 billion, amounting to 15.1% of central bank foreign reserves
Kuwait: 79 tons, at $ 6.4 billion, amounting to 11.1% of central bank foreign reserves
UAW: 75 tons, at $ 6.1 billion, amounting to 2.8% of central bank foreign reserves
Jordan: 70.1 tons, at $ 5.7 billion, amounting to 26.7% of central bank foreign reserves
https://www.raialyoum.com/الذهب-يرتفع-إلى-مستويات-قياسية-جديدة-ا/
Jordan and UAE were recently taken off the grey list …
Alquds: Acting Lebanese Central Bank Governor says working hard to keep country off FTAF Grey List
https://www.alquds.co.uk/المركزي-اللبناني-نعمل-جاهدين-لمنع-إ/
John Lothian News: TD Bank Sets Aside $2.6 Billion for Possible U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Penalties
Connor Hart - The Wall Street Journal
TD Bank has set aside $2.6 billion for fines it is likely to face from U.S. regulators because of weaknesses with its anti-money-laundering practices. Canada's second-largest bank by market capitalization said Wednesday the fiscal third-quarter provision reflects its current estimate of the total fines related to these matters. /jlne.ws/3YWiGG2
Geopolitical realities continue to harm Jordan’s economy …
Agenzia Nova: Five airlines suspend flights to Amman. These are the German Lufthansa (until 26 August), the US United Airlines (until 15 September), Austrian Airlines (until 26 August), the Spanish Vueling (until 31 October) and the Greek Aegean Air for an indefinite period.
https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/Jordan-five-airlines-suspend-flights-to-Amman/
Italy’s mired economy …
Philipp Heimberger on X: Italy's real wage misery. In 2023, inflation-adjusted compensation per employee in Italy was 7.4% lower than in 1999, while real compensation increased by 8.4% in the Eurozone overall during the same period. https://t.co/D6YtsZ5of9
Middle East asset management is big business …
Reuters: Bank of Singapore aims to grow its business in the Middle East with the region contributing up to 20% of its overall revenue and private banking assets over the next three to five years from around 10% currently, its top executive said.
One of Asia's biggest private banks, Bank of Singapore has grown its assets under management (AUM) to $116 billion as at end-September 2023 from about $20 billion in 2010.
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bank-singapore-sees-middle-east-accounting-fifth-assets-over-3-5-years-2024-08-23/
The future is already here …
leanahosea on X: At BBC London I investigated & found antibiotic resistant bacteria in the Thames. This study is looking at how widespread this is nationally & if bacteria is spreading from rivers to people. https://t.co/takx6ncseG
MSME access to finance is critical to frontier and emerging markets growth …
Mondo Visione: Securities Commission Malaysia on “Investing in MSMEs for Impact”
https://mondovisione.com/_assets/files/22-Aug-2024---Opening-Address-By-SC-Chairman-at-the-SIDC-Business-Foresight-Forum-2024.pdf
Stock markets care! Good talk, Rama … enjoyed watching this!
John Lothian News: Breaking Records and Comfort Zones: Rama Pillai's Kilt Challenge Journey
In a lively interview at FIA's IDX in London, John Lothian News sat down with SGX Managing Director Rama Pillai to discuss his participation in the FIA's IDX Gala Kilt Challenge, a fundraising effort that is part of the charity event supporting Futures for Kids. The conversation explored Pillai's motivations, experiences, and the impressive fundraising success he achieved. Watch the video »
Stress on Saudi finances, for the time being …
John Lothian News: Saudi Arabia's Sales From Oil Exports Drop to Three-Year Low; The kingdom's sales from oil fell to $17.7 billion in June; Petrodollar slump has caused the government to delay projects
Paul Wallace - Bloomberg. /jlne.ws/4dA9ziE
Why are Chinese companies de-listing ?
John Lothian News: Chinese Stock Markets Head for Third Year of Record Delistings; Forty firms have already lost listed status so far in 2024; Forced delistings could harm investors: Shanghai Prospect
Bloomberg News
China's stock markets are set for a third straight year of record delistings driven by the jump in IPOs over the past decade and tighter rules introduced to weed out weaker members. A total of 40 firms have already been removed from the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses this year through Wednesday, and another nine have said they are also likely to be ejected, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That puts the total on course to beat the previous all-time high of 45 set in 2023. /jlne.ws/3AtyXrK
The importance of being in an international index cannot be emphasised enough …
John Lothian News: MSCI axes dozens more Chinese stocks from global indices; Move will increase weighting of other emerging market countries, such as India
Julienne Raven Lingat - Financial Times
MSCI has removed dozens of Chinese securities from its global benchmarks for the third consecutive quarter, in a move that will increase the weighting of India and other Asian markets in emerging markets indices. The US index giant will remove 60 constituents from the flagship MSCI China index, which covers about 85 per cent of the entire global equities universe, including H shares, red chips and American depositary receipts, according to its latest quarterly review published this week.
/jlne.ws/4dxSYfw
JPMorgan Drops Proposal to Cut China's Share in Key Emerging-Market Bond Index - Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has dropped a proposal to change the way it calculates its flagship emerging-market bond index that would have reduced China's share by almost half. The bank is seeking feedback from clients on potential amendments to its GBI-EM index, the local-currency developing nation debt benchmark tracked by hundreds of billions of dollars. Under one radical option initially floated in its annual consultation process, China's share in the gauge would have dropped to 6% from 10%.
/jlne.ws/4dvg7Pw
Paramount is content and content is king …
NYT DealBook: Paramount takes more time to weigh a takeover bid by Edgar Bronfman Jr. The entertainment company’s board agreed to extend a deadline to evaluate the last-minute offer by Bronfman, who has assembled an eclectic group of backers. That signals that Paramount is taking the bid seriously, though it’s unclear whether the company will ultimately choose to abandon its existing merger agreement with Skydance.
AI use of content - licensing and copyright challenges …
John Lothian News: Conde Nast, OpenAI Strike Multiyear Partnership in New AI Deal - Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
Conde Nast has penned a multiyear agreement with OpenAI to license the magazine company's content, the latest high-profile media deal for the artificial intelligence startup. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT and other AI tools, will display content from brands like Vogue, the New Yorker and Wired within its products, the company said Tuesday. The deal also allows OpenAI to use Conde Nast's content to help train its AI models, which require vast amounts of data to learn. The announcement marks an expansion of OpenAI's efforts to cut deals with media companies, rather than battle them over how the company uses news articles and other content in its AI tools. Financial terms were not disclosed. /jlne.ws/3MfooLF
John Lothian News: Andreessen Horowitz leads $80 million bet on startup seeking to tame AI with copyright. - Jeff John Roberts - Fortune
The arrival of the internet unleashed a wave of creativity as users found new ways to make and mix culture, but it also delivered an economic blow to authors, musicians, and news outlets. Much of the revenue that had once flowed to content producers got gobbled by tech platforms like Facebook and Google. Now, at the dawn of the AI age, many fear the same type of economic disruption is poised to happen again. /jlne.ws/46Wmrx3
NYT DealBook: A group of authors filed a class-action lawsuit against Anthropic, accusing the artificial intelligence start-up of plundering their works to train its Claude chatbot. (Reuters)
A fund is born …
Waya: Dubai’s Magellan Capital Holdings to Unveil USD 700M Hedge Fund. New fund will focus on equity and credit strategies, with the firm planning to engage with key allocators, such as family offices and sovereign funds, after establishing a 12-month track record.
https://waya.media/dubais-magellan-capital-holdings-to-unveil-usd-700m-hedge-fund/
Lebanon is without electricity …
Alquds: Algeria starts shipping fuel to Lebanon to assist in electricity outage
https://www.alquds.co.uk/الجزائر-ترسل-أولى-شحنات-الفيول-إلى-لبن/
Finally, new use for old abandoned factories …. could this come to the Middle East ?
John Lothian News: Tech industry taps old power stations to expand AI infrastructure; Companies need vast tracts of land and resources that industrial sites can provide. - Camilla Hodgson - Financial Times
Booming demand for artificial intelligence is encouraging big tech companies and their suppliers to explore converting old power stations and industrial sites into data centres. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are pouring billions of dollars into building data centres to power cloud computing and AI services, but it has become increasingly challenging to find suitable locations with sufficient power for the energy-hungry facilities. /jlne.ws/3yFGmE2
Kudos to the Dubai Financial Market …
menaFN: eToro, the trading and investing platform, on Monday announced its partnership with Dubai financial market (DFM), enabling eToro's 38 million registered users to invest in 10 companies listed on the exchange.
https://menafn.com/1108581931/DFM-Seeks-To-Widen-Investor-Base-With-Etoro-Partnership
Grandpa coal not out yet …
NYT DealBook: Two American coal producers, Arch Resources and Consol Energy, agreed to combine in a deal valued at $2.3 billion to create a giant in the business of producing coal for steel-making. (Bloomberg)
Logistics is big business …
Enterprise: Pakistani fintech PostEx plans UAE expansion following pre-series A round. Company offers up-front payments for cash-on-delivery e-commerce orders placed by suppliers. PostEx serves 15k e-commerce merchants, with 80% using both its payment and logistics solutions, while the rest rely solely on its logistics services, according to Khan. The company became profitable over the past 18 months, after crossing annual recurring revenue of USD 21 mn, the statement said.
https://enterprise.news/uae/en/news/story/fc000a78-9fd2-40be-bb21-c483e6c0d1fe/Pakistani%20fintech%20PostEx%20plans%20UAE%20expansion%20following%20pre-series%20A%20round
Affirmative action was supposed to right a wrong …
NYT DealBook: The incoming class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows a steep drop-off in the percentage of Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students after the Supreme Court banned affirmative action. (NYT)
Good infrastructure is critical to a country’s economic growth … how about setting up a UK Infrastructure Investment Fund ?
FT: UK needs Europe-style private funding for transport projects. Improved infrastructure required to plug productivity ‘gap’ across country.
https://www.ft.com/content/6c4b1153-ff4a-40f7-b022-1c1f8c7a57ab?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content
The global competition for minerals …
FT: US-backed railway sparking a battle for African copper. Washington’s support for a minerals train connecting the DRC to the Atlantic illustrates its desire to compete with China.
https://www.ft.com/content/cb2823c7-f451-4bc9-959e-ec7e07384a31
Well done !
International Intrigue: Australia approves ‘world’s largest solar precinct’.
Canberra has approved an ambitious $19B solar project to export electricity from remote northern Australia to Singapore via subsea cables. The project collapsed last year after its two original billionaire backers disagreed over the commercial viability of exporting the electricity. With one of those billionaires now back in charge, SunCable is hoping to start operating in the early 2030s.
A great move by UAE !
The Circuit: UAE launched a satellite into lower earth orbit in first step of a three-year program to develop a string of radar imaging devices in space to monitor conditions below. The Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California by UAE companies Yahsat and Bayanat.
The two companies are in the process of merging to create a $4.1 billion AI-powered space technology business called Space42 – possibly creating one of the most valuable publicly listed space companies.
Banks, beware who you partner with …
John Lothian News: Majority of Fintech Partner Banks Report Losses Over Compliance; Some sponsor banks are reporting losses of $1 million or more; Over 25% of FDIC actions directed at sponsor banks in 2024
Teresa Xie - Bloomberg
In the age of digital banking, an increasing number of financial-technology companies are partnering with small and midsize "sponsor banks," to provide services - but not without a cost. An estimated 75% of such sponsor banks have suffered losses of $100,000 or more as a result of compliance violations, according to identity risk management platform Alloy's "2024 State of Embedded Finance" report. That includes fines associated with regulatory enforcement actions against the banks, as well as direct financial losses associated with the compliance failures.
/jlne.ws/46WWE86
Logistics is big business …
The Circuit:
Saudi PIF is in exploratory talks to line up Boeing and Airbus freighters for a new cargo airline, as it looks to turn the kingdom into a logistics hub to rival Dubai and Doha, Bloomberg reports.
Bahri, Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil shipping company, signed a $1 billion agreement to buy nine supertankers from Piraeus, Greece-based Capital Maritime and Trading Corp.
The global real estate crisis continues to manifest itself in many countries …
John Lothian News: A Lincoln Park mansion was once listed at $50 million. Here's what it sold for 8 years later.
Dennis Rodkin - Crain's Chicago Business
A palatial home on Burling Street sold today for $15.25 million, the highest home price in the Chicago area so far in 2024 and the year's only sale over $10 million. Even so, the sale comes at a loss in the tens of millions of dollars for Richard and Michaela Parrillo, who built the 25,000-square-foot mansion on eight city lots in 2010. The Parrillos first put the mansion up for sale at $50 million in December 2016, but had cut the asking price by more than half, to $23.5 million, by the time it went under contract to the buyers in July. The sale price is a little more than 30% of the Parrillos' asking price from eight years ago and about 65% of their final asking price.
/jlne.ws/3XbHCrJ
gfma: China's plan to mobilize 500 billion renminbi to support local government enterprises in buying unsold property has seen slow progress, with only 24.7 billion lent so far. The People's Bank of China is aiming to alleviate the real estate slump, but challenges such as slumping credit demand and decreasing new home sales. Full Story: Financial Times (21 Aug.)
Now that should be interesting to watch …
Intelligence Online: UAE - Las Vegas of the dunes: Ras Al Khaimah gambles big to take on Dubai. As the Dubai tourism empire grows, the smaller emirate is trying to find its niche in the sector by focusing on casino hotels. From its airport to its infrastructure, Ras Al Khaimah has launched major projects to bring the US-style gambling world to the desert, but nothing is a safe bet.
I think gold has peaked, for now …
John Lothian News: Gold hits record highs as investors bet on rate cuts; US and European buyers position for lower borrowing costs after sitting out much of precious metal's rally
Leslie Hook and Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Western investors have piled back into gold as they position for US interest rate cuts this year, helping to drive prices to record highs this week. Prices reached $2,531 per troy ounce in Tuesday trading, taking gold's gains for the year to more than a fifth, boosted by purchases by institutional investors and bullish hedge fund bets.
/jlne.ws/4cuV8vb
A large, promising economy in need of VC and PE investments …
Entrepreneur Middle East: Egypt boasts over 160 venture capital (VC) firms and investors supporting its startup ecosystem. These include both local and international investors, which have collectively participated in over 800 deals in the five years between 2019 to 2023. The local investors have been a lot more active; however, the investor landscape is dominated by the presence of more international investors.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/business-news/fueling-an-ecosystem-meet-10-of-egypts-most-active/478701
So, it is a question of having the authority to issue the ban, not the legitimacy of such a ban. Watch this space …
John Lothian News: Judge Tosses FTC Ban on Noncompete Agreements; Commission doesn't have the authority to issue the ban, judge finds
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday struck down a landmark regulation issued by the Federal Trade Commission that sought to ban employers from using noncompete agreements to prevent most workers from joining rival firms. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown ruled the commission lacked authority to write regulations restricting what the law calls "unfair methods of competition." The FTC ban, issued in April, was part of FTC Chair Lina Khan's effort to crack down on tactics that restrict the ability of workers to switch jobs. /jlne.ws/4cBOQtD
Global competition for minerals …
Global Mining Review: EV Metals partners with Resource Capital Funds on Lithium Chemicals Plant Project in Middle East, with Saudi as main focus.
https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/20082024/ev-metals-partners-with-resource-capital-funds-on-lithium-chemicals-plant-project/
A surprising winner - perhaps by default …
John Lothian News: Euro currency emerges a winner from market turmoil
Sruthi Shankar and Alun John - Reuters
The euro is trading at its highest this year against the dollar, emerging as a clear winner from the recent ructions in global currency markets that have unsettled a strong dollar and halted a relentless slide in Japan's yen. Having broken decisively above the symbolic $1.10 level , the euro's more than 2.5% gain in August sets the currency up for its best month since November. Traders, distracted up until now by the yen's sudden surge after a surprise July 31 Bank of Japan rate hike and a broad-dollar pounding as expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts grow, are paying attention.
/jlne.ws/4duJ0eF
Dubai wrote the book on free zones and every aspiring free zone and special economic zone should attend this event …
Yahoo Finance: Dubai to Host Annual World Congress of the World Free Zones Organization in September.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/under-patronage-mohammed-bin-rashid-070000263.html
We don’t know much about digital currency mining firms, do we …
John Lothian News: Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms Buys Stronghold for $125 Million in Stock Transaction; Shareholders will receive 2.52 shares for each share held; Industry is consolidating after revenue rewards were reduced
David Pan - Bloomberg
Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms Ltd. agreed to acquire Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. for about $125 million in stock while it fends off a takeover attempt by Riot Platforms Inc. Stronghold shareholders will receive 2.52 Bitfarms shares for each share held, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. That's a premium of around 70% of Stronghold's 90-day volume-weighted average price on Nasdaq as of Aug. 16. The transaction includes assumed debt of about $50 million. /jlne.ws/3SZqqmR
Will Qatar Airways consider taking a stake in Royal Jordanian ?
FT: Qatar Airways signals appetite for more deals after Airlink investment. Gulf carrier’s purchase of 25% stake in South African airline adds to growing portfolio.
https://www.ft.com/content/ab1d0d86-0af2-4b21-8a0e-ac2e52330056
Ports are a key part of the global logistics service offering, and ports in the Middle East will play an ever increasing role in global trade and security …
John Lothian News: A $2 Trillion Reckoning Looms as Ports Become Pawns in Geopolitics; The gateways to global trade face costly conversions to retool in new era of rivalry, automation and green energy
Bloomberg News
For centuries, control of the world's biggest shipping centers helped expand empires, spark and settle wars, ease poverty and build middle classes while giving international companies access to cheap workers and cash-flush consumers in distant markets. Along the way, maritime ports evolved from trading posts and naval bases into economies within economies that supercharged globalization, becoming vital junctions for energy flows, hubs for infrastructure like rail lines and power stations, and clusters for industrial production, warehousing and distribution. /jlne.ws/46WIunB
Another great one from the FT … do click and look at the charts !
FT: How big are global markets?
https://www.ft.com/content/9e691774-f3e1-4a75-8eb2-bdc9ec438eaa?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content
Someone once said that stories that never happened can be infinitely more powerful than stories that did. And in the context of the US presidential election and the importance of having a strong economic policy proposal (or at least a narrative) that can be presented to the electorate, I will paraphrase and say: economic plans that have very little chances of success may be more powerful than economic plans that have some chances of success.
FT: Kamala Harris’s underwhelming economic agenda. The US economy needs a comprehensive vision, not misguided populist policies.
https://www.ft.com/content/281934fb-1d18-477c-be75-61c382221643?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content
What went wrong ?
Bloomberg: Lebanon-based Bank Audi SAL said the World Bank’s private investment arm is suing it in the UK for $234 million of loans and interest payments.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2024/08/20/world-banks-ifc-sues-lebanese-lender-over-234-million-dues/
To paraphrase Captain Ramsey in Crimson Tide: for shareholders, auditors constitute the front line and the last line of defense. How will technology impact their work ?
Mondo Visione: Enhancing Audit Quality Through Technology-Adaptable Audit Standards
https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/enhancing-audit-quality-through-technology-adaptable-audit-standards-sec-commis?disablemobileredirect=true
Africa rising …
FT: The foreign powers competing to win influence in Africa. Continent finds itself wooed by many, but few countries have yet devised a strategy to take full advantage.
https://www.ft.com/content/a811400c-6c1f-4970-b1a9-4e9d28efa62e
Global south rising …
BBC: UN chief calls for permanent Africa Security Council seat
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kj5yvwd74o?fbclid=IwY2xjawE1TjRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQoyDD6zFCHH9i0o8PviB_97igzlsZRKfAmalu-pmer57cjSRSSt-gk7uA_aem_tCaFH625IoT2fsRhPear_g
How many penny stocks are there on Arab stock markets ? I knew an old timer in the UAE who used to say he would never buy a share with a price less than a falafel sandwich …
Markets Insider: Nasdaq is proposing a crackdown on penny stocks to make it harder to escape delisting.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nasdaq-penny-stocks-delisting-reverse-stock-split-exchange-2024-8?fbclid=IwY2xjawE1TmtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHW01O2xw8puco20150vJwCXUJxR8amUKkJAWw1TrC4WoFdwL1Gl11WsURg_aem_MFKKzrKYckmc9dHcUNjQ0g
A large and promising economy …
Zawya: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has doubled down on India investing close to $1 billion across five deals in the South Asian economy in the first half of 2024.
https://www.zawya.com/en/wealth/wealth-management/uae-wealth-fund-adia-doubles-down-on-india-with-h1-investments-soaring-to-1bln-utyfpzir
The global competition for minerals …
International Intrigue: The Pentagon has announced a $20M grant to build a cobalt refinery in Ontario, Canada. With China controlling nearly 80% of the global cobalt market, the move is part of the US strategy to diversify its critical mineral supply chain across allied nations.
Supply thy neighbour …
Energy News: Qatar Energy and Kuwait are negotiating a 15-year contract to boost Kuwait's supply of liquefied natural gas, in response to growing energy demand.
https://energynews.pro/en/kuwait-and-qatar-energy-in-talks-for-15-year-contract/
Sanctions busting …
NYT DealBook: Chinese companies are said to use cloud computing services to skirt U.S. sanctions. Beijing-linked enterprises have used services by Amazon and others as a backdoor to gain access to advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence technologies, Reuters reports. It’s the latest example of Chinese companies finding workarounds to circumvent Washington’s trade restrictions on such products.
Speaks for itself …
Bloomberg:
via @sahouraxo on X few days ago:
Today marks 9 years since ISIS tortured and beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an 83-year-old Syrian archaeologist who refused to give up the locations of Palmyra’s hidden antiquities. He gave his life to protect Syria’s ancient heritage.
An elite of female Arab literature, back when …
via Amal Ghandour on Facebook:
PHILOSOPHY ON X:
“Every word has consequences. Every silence, too.”
Jean-Paul Sartre
All the best
Majd