ARABIALINK Daily News – QATAR – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Cagamas, Malaysia Airports, Qatar Islamic: Islamic Bond Alert [May 31]
“The following borrowers are expected to sell Islamic bonds, which use asset returns to pay investors to comply with the religion’s ban on interest. Global sales of so-called sukuk increased to $20.2 billion last year from $14.1 billion in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They climbed 10 percent to $6.1 billion so far this year. CAGAMAS BHD.: The Malaysian national mortgage company plans to sell as much as 10 billion ringgit ($3.1 billion) of a new type of Islamic bond that would be acceptable to investors in the Middle East, said Chief Executive Officer Steven Choy. Cagamas is developing the new sukuk with Saudi’s Al-Rajhi Bank, which will subscribe to some of the notes to be issued this month, he said..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Had Talks With Partner Over Stake in Citigroup [May 31]
“Qatar considered acquiring a stake in Citigroup Inc. and held talks with a partner over buying shares in the U.S. company, the country’s finance minister said. “It was only just exploring our interest, not more than that,” Finance and Economy Minister Youssef Kamal said at the World Economic Forum Global Redesign Summit in the Qatari capital, Doha, today. He declined to say whether Qatar was still interested in the stake and didn’t name the partner involved in the negotiations. Qatar, holder of the world’s third-largest natural-gas reserves, seeks to diversify its economy from oil and gas by international investments in other areas. The Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, owns stakes in financial institutions including Credit Suisse Group AG and Barclays Plc. The fund bought Harrods Ltd. department store in London this month and a stake in Volkswagen AG last year..” [Complete Report]
Qatari Watchdog Tells Vodafone to File Complaint [My 31]
“Qatar’s telecom watchdog yesterday told Vodafone Qatar to file a complaint with it if the company had concerns about the entry of Virgin into the market. The regulator was responding to a threat of legal action from Vodafone Qatar, which believes Virgin’s entrance into the gulf state is a violation of the conditions of its licence – bought at a cost of 7.7bn riyals (£1.5bn). Virgin has signed a partnership with Qatar Telecommunications to launch Virgin Mobile Qatar in a brand licensing deal..” [Complete Report]
