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 Vol. VI. No. 47 May 2010

Editor’s note
Editor
K Raveendran ravi@sterlingp.ae

consulting Editor
Matein Khalid matein@sterlingp.ae

Publisher & Managing Director

A new excitement

T
Sankaranarayanan sankar@sterlingp.ae

Director Finance here is no doubt that institutional interest

Anandi Ramachandran anandi@sterlingp.ae
GENERAL MANAGER
Radhika Natu radhika@sterlingp.ae
Editorial
Contributing Editors
Anand Vardhan
Linda Benbow linda@sterlingp.ae
Vanit Sethi vanit@sterlingp.ae
Manju Ramanan manju@sterlingp.ae
DESIGN
Ujwala Ranade ujwala.art@gmail.com
Sales and Marketing
Account Manager
Rashmi Pai rashmi@sterlingp.ae
ACCOUNTS
Biju varghese biju@sterlingp.ae
Circulation Supervisor Ibrahim A. Hameed
Printing
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Sultanate of Oman: Al-Atta’a Distribution Est., Kuwait: The Kuwaiti Group for
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Dar Al-Thaqafah, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Distribution Company
in the SME sector is at an unprecedented
level. This is not to suggest that small and
medium businesses were inconsequential
at any time in the past. But a convergence of initiatives
at various levels has taken the sector to a new level of
attention and caring.
The latest in the series is the move for a legislation at
the federal level, which will coordinate initiatives at the
level of individual emirates, such as the Mohammed
Bin Rashid Establishment for SMEs in Dubai and the
Khalifa Foundation for SME Development in Abu
Dhabi, and develop these into a national plan for the
small and medium enterprises. A new law is learnt to
be in the final stages, which will make life easier and
financial resources more accessible for the small and
medium businesses.
The sector had in the past failed to attract the
attention that it required for growth from the
banking sector, due to a number of reasons, including
the availability of more glamorous businesses for the
banks to make money from. But as the options got
limited, they have turned to the sector in a big way,
although many of the challenges that kept them off
the sector still remain.
But with the institutional interest in the sector
reaching a new level, there is considerable excitement
about the role and scope of SMEs.

K Raveendran

SterlingPublications FZ LLC Loft Office 2, G 01, Dubai Media City

P.O. Box 500595, Dubai, UAE. Tel. + 971 4 367 2245, Fax +971 4 367 8613
Website: www.sterlingp.ae Email: info@sterlingp.ae
Overseas offices: India: Anand Vardhan, DII/89, Pandara Road, New Delhi, 110003. Tel: 0091 1 26517981
2 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Bahrain: Sunliz February
Publications W.L.L,2010
PO BOX 2114, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. Tel: 00973 17276682
 BBR Mag FP.ai 1 5/2/10 4:28 PM

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K
CONTENTS
6 RETAIL
Opportunities mixed with
challenges

SPECIAL
8 Small is very big
Federal law coming for
development of SME sector
14 Credit guarantees critical
Higher risk premiums caused
by information gaps

20 SME - BANKS
SMEs go international
Monetary discipline and support are key
Opportunities abound
Risk-reward balance crucial
Unified national policy required 46 REAL ESTATE
SME index a useful tool Passion for breakthrough
Handholding to tide over crisis technologies
Refinancing for lenders helps
50 WEALTH
Private banking after
38 SME - COMPANIES
perfect storm
European heritage adapted to GCC
A well-brewed success 54 CREDIT RATING
Benefiting from oil boom S&P’s Gulf Region Series

4 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

21282DIBBusiBankSolutions275x205.pdf 5/3/10 10:15:41 AM
 RE TAIL
Opportunities mixed with
challenges
Low credit availability, increasing competition pose
threat to industry
T
he relatively low consumer fi-
nance availability, high credit
card interest rate compared
to the global average due to
higher default risk and lack of credit
bureau data, and increasing competi-
tion are posing a threat to the retailing
industry in the GCC.
This is further complicated by the ex-
pansion of international retailers within
the GCC to sustain their global business
growth, a new report on the regional re-
tailing industry reveals.
But along side there exists a plethora
of opportunities as well, the report by
Alpen Capital points out.
The retail sector is leading from the
front in the GCC’s ambition to move
away from oil dependency towards a
diversified economy. The region is en-
hancing its footprint in the global retail
map buoyed by factors such as healthy
population growth, rising per capita in-
come, growing middle class, improving
service sector and burgeoning travel and
tourism sectors. Moreover, the modern
shopping malls anchoring state-of-the-
art hypermarkets, highly developed free
trade zones, various shopping festivals/
events and relaxed tax provision for in-
dividuals provide further growth impe-
tus to the sector, the report says.
According to Alpen, currently, re-
tail projects of around 6 million sq m of
Gross Leasable Area (GLA) are under-
way, which will constitute the region’s
retail space supply by 2012. This reflects
optimism amongst mall developers and
retailers in general. Race for more retail
space in the GCC is not restricted to lo-
6 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
are key underlying reasons for
this demand growth, it points
out.
“Moreover, we expect ro-
bust growth in retail demand
from travellers in transit (air-
port retail) and tourists. Phar-
macy and electronic sales, al-
though minuscule in terms of
contribution to the total retail
scale, are also posting signs of
healthy progression,”, the re-
port says.
Retailers with focus on
non-discretionary goods will
continue to outperform in the
short term while those pro-
cal participants; many foreign retailers moting discretionary products,
have initiated their retail operation in large ticket items in particular, may face
the region to leverage on its substantial challenging market conditions for a
growth prospects. while. The view is further supported by
The rising GLA in the retail space the 1Q 2010 financials posted by GCC
is expected to be matched by demand retailers wherein nondiscretionary re-
growth in the sector. Alpen Capital es- tailers posted healthy top-line progres-
timates GCC retail demand growth at sion while discretionary retailers pre-
a CAGR of 9.5 per cent in 2010-12. For sented subdued performance.
2010, the industry growth is projected However, over a medium-to-long
at around 8.3 per cent. Growing popula- term horizon, Alpen Capital foresees
tion and rising per capital expenditure investment merit also in more cyclical
The GCC is enhancing its footprint in the global
retail map buoyed by factors such as healthy
population growth, rising per capita income,
growing middle class, improving service sector
and burgeoning travel and tourism sectors
May 2010

Retailers with focus on non-discretionary
goods will continue to outperform in the short
term while those promoting discretionary
products, large ticket items in particular, may
face challenging market conditions for a while
discretionary goods segments. Along strong growth in tourism to absorb the
with significant growth, there has been incremental retail space.
a qualitative shift in retail consumer Alpen Capital expects the non-dis-
behaviour in the GCC. The key trends cretionary retail segment to continue
developing in the region are – rising to register healthy growth momentum
acceptability of modern retail format, in 2010 while the discretionary seg-
increased preference for international ment is likely to remain subdued. “We
brands, growing prominence of online expect revival in demand generated
retailing and enhancing appreciation from tourists and passengers in transit
for innovative ideas and offerings. to provide a further boost to retail sales
The rise in population, urbanization, in 2010. Further, pharmaceuticals and
middle class (with increasingly higher online retail presents latent growth po-
per capita income), inflow of tourists tential,” it says.
and number of passengers in transit Alpen says it expects revival in de-
continue to provide congenial condi- mand generated from tourists and pas-
tions for retail to develop in the GCC sengers in transit to provide a further
countries. The report projects GLA ad- boost to retail sales in 2010. As per its
dition of approximately 6 million sq m estimates, short-visit tourist retail sales
in the GCC retail space in 2010-12. is expected to register revival while
“Looking at the region as a whole, sales at duty-free shops at airports will
we see demand growing at a sufficient rise significantly under the impact of
pace to absorb the healthy pipeline of rising passenger traffic. This rate can be
new space. That said, some cities, Dubai higher than the estimates given the rate
in particular, will depend on continued at which airport infrastructure work is
under progress. Annual events
such as the Dubai Shopping
Festival will continue to at-
tract international shoppers,
the report points out.
This encouraging view is
substantiated by a 3.3 per cent
year-on-year rise in Dubai ho-
tel revenue quarter in the first
2010, the report says quoting a
Department for Tourism and
Commerce Marketing official.
The room occupancy rate
increased to 76 per cent in the
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
first quarter from 73 per cent a year ear-
lier.
The majority of the GLA addition is
expected in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Moreover, Qatar is expected to have
major addition in GLA in 2012. The
higher GLA addition for Saudi Arabia
is justified given its high and growing
population base – the Saudi population
constitutes 63 per cent of the total GCC
population and is expected to grow at
CAGR of 3 per cent over the next few
years. As a result, latent demand exist-
ing in the Saudi retail market justifies
significant GLA supply growth over the
next few years, the report points out.
Dubai has the highest GLA per cap-
ita in the region and the most at risk of
oversupply, but also by far the strongest
tourist destination. Therefore, although
GLA per capita seems high in relation
to its population, this is less of a con-
cern when factoring in tourist spend-
ing. Moreover, the tourists have a rela-
tively higher propensity to consume and
therefore post higher retail spend per
capita, Alpen points out.
Given the GLA addition, retail mar-
ket sizing from the supply-side depends
on the absorption rate of additional
supply of retail space. It says it would
be misleading to assume that the over-
all occupancy rate in the retail sector
is high if new malls are fully occupied.
The sector is witnessing a growing pref-
erence for newer malls at the expense of
older store formats.
Considering the mildly uncertain
economic environment and risk of a
paced absorption of new space in some
regions, Dubai for example, Alpen has
assumed the possibility of two scenar-
ios: one of moderate growth with an
occupancy rate of 60 per cent for the
incremental organized retail space in
the GCC region in 2010, 65 per cent in
2011 and 70 per cent by 2012. Under this
scenario, the occupied GCC retail space
would grow at a CAGR of 9.9 per cent in
the years from 2010 to 2012, in line with
the demand side estimate, it says.
The second scenario assumes an oc-
cupancy rate of 80 per cent in 2010, 85
per cent in 2011 and 90 per cent by 2012,
with the occupied GCC retail space
growing at a CAGR of 12.6 per cent in
2010-12.
May 2010 7
 C OV ER
SME SPECIAL
STORY

Small is very
BIG
Federal law coming for the
development of SME sector
8 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010
A
series of legislative and ad-
ministrative initiatives at The Ministry of Economy has prepared a
the federal governmental comprehensive proposal to develop the role of
and institutional levels is on
the cards to help the small and medium SMEs, after a detailed analysis on the current
enterprise units in making access to fi-
nancial resources easier and promote
status of SMEs and the challenges faced by the
the SME sector as a vital growth engine sector
of the local economy.
A most significant step in this direc-
tion is a new federal law, expected to be
issued in the next couple of
months, which will outline cial institutions
a new definition of SMEs, to provide finance
procedures of establishing and other support
SMEs and meet the capital systems for the
requirements of the sector. development of
The new law envisages that the sector.
the Ministry of Economy The ministry
will be the nodal agency has prepared a
responsible for coordinat- c ompre h e n s i ve
ing various activities for the proposal to de-
growth and development of velop the role of
the SME sector. SMEs, after a de-
The move for a com- tailed analysis on
mon definition of the role the current status
and size of the SME unit at of SMEs and the
the federal level follows a challenges faced
similar exercise launched by the sector. The
by Dubai, which redefined plan also includes
the SME unit in a more ap- the proposed new
propriate way so that these definition of an
units become eligible for bank finance these units meet their various require- SME unit at the national level and the
and other administrative support. The ments. draft law on the sector’s development.
Dubai initiative, spearheaded by the A number of studies on the sector According to Sultan Bin Saeed Al
Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment had highlighted the absence of a uni- Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy,
for Small and Medium Enterprises De- form definition of the role and identity the ministry has studied and evaluated
velopment, is expected to create a new of the SME sector as the biggest stum- the status of SMEs in the country so as
platform and culture that will help bling block for banks and other finan- to identify the challenges and opportu-

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 9

nities in this vital sector. The ministry
evaluated the experience of 28 coun-
tries in the field of small and medium
businesses. “We are keen to coordinate
efforts and exchange information with
government departments in order to
achieve best results and develop the
performance of this vital sector,” he
said while chairing the meeting of a co-
ordination and economic cooperation
committee recently, which discussed
the government’s outlook regarding
SMEs and the ministry’s mandate in
this regard.
The challenges faced by the SME
sector typically include lack of financ-
ing, high operational costs, labour and
training issues, absence of marketing
network to promote national products
and procedural obstacles. The new ini-
tiatives are likely to include steps to see
that the capital requirements of the
SME sector are adequately met while
at the same time reducing the bureau-
cratic and other hurdles in the develop-
ment of the sector.
The Ministry of Economy is in the
process of finalizing the draft law for
it to be referred to local government
SME institutions and Chambers of
Commerce in the individual emirates
for their comments. It will then be pre-
sented at the cabinet for approval. The
ministry is also involving the coun-
try’s banks in these consultations as
the banking sector is expected to play
a crucial role in the development of
10 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
The challenges faced by the SME sector
typically include lack of financing, high
operational costs, labour and training issues,
absence of marketing network to promote
national products and procedural obstacles
the sector by way of a more favourable
credit policy in terms of the small and
medium enterprises.
Another important proposal under
consideration is the launch of a Federal
Credit Bureau to compile and provide
authentic credit information, a move
that will ensure transparency in the
market. The credit bureau, which may
cover both individual and corporate
credit information services, will help
the banks and financial institutions
to better assess the risk of lending to
the small and medium businesses, as
the agency will collect and document
credit information from various finan-
cial authorities, companies, establish-
ments, individuals and banks, in addi-
tion to classifying and analysing them.
The establishment of a national-level
credit bureau is seen as a ‘long-overdue’
step to ensure more efficient credit risk
management and thus ensure macro
economic stability in the country. The
institution of such a mechanism would
be helpful to both lenders and borrow-
May 2010
ers as the bank or financial institution
concerned will have access to complete
information and transparent data about
the financial situation of the borrower
and their payment behaviour.
In early 2006, the Dubai Depart-
ment of Economic Development had
established Emcredit as a government-
backed credit information services
company, but as an emirate-level insti-
tution, it suffered from credibility issues
outside the emirate, which restricted its
appeal to banks, financial institutions
and other entities at a national level.
Emcredit initially met resistance from
the banking sector but is said to have
grown since to hold 30 per cent of the
country’s mortgage data and 5.6 mil-
lion individual identification records.
But a federal agency is expected to
provide much more authenticity to the
information sharing process as it will
ensure much bigger participation from
banks and other institutions. And with
the involvement of the regulators, the
collaboration between banks and the
credit bureaus becomes organic.
Credit bureaus help in a big way to
create a favourable environment for
SME lending as they will help improve
the banks’ assessment of debtors by be-
ing able to quantify the risk more re-
alistically. Generally banks have been
found to reject between 50 per cent and
70 per cent of the applications for credit
from SME owners. The most common
reasons for the rejection are insufficient
documentation, shorter duration of the
company’s existence, unsound funda-
mentals of the business. Some SMEs
have looked to enhance their credit
standing with banks by getting a rating
from credit rating agencies.
While the banks are concerned with
the risks associated with SME lending,
the owners of small businesses com-
plain that they are not able to get the
financing support that they need from
the banks. And even if they manage
to get some bank to finance them, the
interest rates are too high, which is a
brake on economic growth. At 20 per
cent, the typical interest rate for an
unsecured loan is twice the 10 per cent
rate prevalent in Western Europe.
But according to the banks, the ex-
ceptionally high interest rates on unse-
cured business lending in the UAE are
a result of a significant risk premium.
The perceived risk has two key reasons:
one is the difficulty in assessing the started and is in need of capital, it
credit quality of businesses in a data struggles to get any credit whatsoever
sparse environment like the UAE. Also, over, typically from banks; later, when the business
the UAE has a very informal business between Dh100,000 and has plenty of money, banks cold-call
culture which leads to incomplete and Dh250,000. to offer now-unnecessary credit on fa-
unreliable financial statements. Also, small and medium businesses vourable terms.
Banks say it is difficult to distin- face greater difficulties in accessing Another major problem faced by the
guish between high and low risk debt- finance during the start-up phase. In SME units, particularly the start-ups, in
ors and this is probably the result of most developed markets, it is possible the UAE is that a majority of them do
an information asymmetry between to get viability based financing, where not fall into the category of SME defini-
borrowers and lenders. If banks can an aspiring businessman applies for tion followed internationally.
improve their assessment of debtors a loan on the basis of a business plan. To be a SME or a micro-enterprise,
then they will be able to quantify risk On a commercial basis this is effectively an enterprise has to satisfy the criteria
more precisely. Banks aim to minimize non-existent in the UAE, it is pointed for the number of employees and one
this risk by screening applicants and out. of the two financial criteria -- either the
granting credit only to those that meet This presents a great dichotomy in total turnover or total invested capital.
standards. Naturally, the standards for the system. When a business is getting Internationally, definitions based on
unsecured loans are tighter than for se-
cured loans.
The typical criteria followed by banks While the banks are concerned with the risks
in lending to SMEs include a minimum
period of existence for the company, associated with SME lending, the owners of
usually between one and three years, small businesses complain that they are not
and the availability of financial state-
ments to cover that period, ideally au- able to get the financing support that they need
dited, and for smaller companies bank
statements (cash flows) over the period.
from the banks
Many banks specify a minimum turn-

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 11

 labour force. In the Gulf countries, a
small industrial enterprise is generally
one with less than $2 million of invest-
ment and a medium enterprise is one
with $2-6 million invested capital, with
units involving an investment of more
than $6 million being considered large.
What these units generally require is
macro-finance, but that is an area which
is yet to be developed locally, although
bankers consider this to be a significant
area of interest in their future strate-
gies.
It is pointed out that support of
government agencies and institutions
such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid
Establishment for Small and Medium
Enterprises in Dubai and the Khalifa
Fund for Enterprise Development in
Abu Dhabi is vital in ensuring low cost
finance to units of this type. Since its
inception, the Mohammed Bin Rashid
Establishment has assisted in support-
ing about 9,000 entrepreneurs to evalu-
ate and start their businesses and facili-
tated their access to more than Dh720
million in government contracts. The
critical role of the Establishment is to
develop the leadership of local Emira-
tis and support their entrepreneurship.
Similarly, the Khalifa Fund has provid-
ed Dh350 million for 211 projects in the
SME sector since its inception in 2007.

employee size range from under 250

(European Union) to under 500 (US The most common reasons for the rejection
small business administration). Based
on turnover, figures below $50 million
of loan applications by the SME units
are considered indicative of a medium are insufficient documentation, shorter
sized enterprise, while below $10 mil-
lion is a small business. duration of the company’s existence,
But in the GCC, the definition varies
depending on the scale of the national
unsound fundamentals of the business
economy and the size of the country’s

12 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

The typical size of the unit by offering less
financed by the Khalifa complex versions
Fund is about Dh1.5 mil- of the financial
lion, which clearly shows products offered
the profile of units getting to larger compa-
assistance from these gov- nies, by relaxing
ernment institutions. do c u ment at ion
UAE Central Bank Gov- requirements,
ernor Sultan bin Nasser Al and training staff
Suwaidi has indicated the specifically to
possibility of the federal deal with small
government launching a businesses. It
loan scheme for small and recommended
medium enterprises, with that the financial
special focus on start-up services aimed
businesses. Under this, the at small busi-
government would offer nesses should be
capital to support SMEs designed to grow
initially, probably in the with the business,
form of ‘full collateral’ in providing scal-
the first phase of the initia- able solutions and
tive as the rate of failure for a smooth upgrade
start-ups is considered to path to larger
be significantly high. lines of credit.
As the Ministry of Smaller busi-
Economy feels that banks nesses often have
that focus on SMEs and fewer cash re-
provide low-cost finance serves and vola-
to entrepreneurs need to tile cash flows
be encouraged, it is creating they have access to appropriate credit to and they often de-
joint programmes with SME-focused enable them to grow and conduct busi- pend on access to finance not just for
banks. For instance, the bank has ness internationally. growth but for their survival. The re-
signed a Memorandum of Understand- Lending from the fund will be made port points out that the smaller sizes of
ing (MoU) with HSBC Middle East, to to SMEs in the UAE that need working the loans and simpler businesses in the
support the international expansion of capital finance for international expan- SME market mean that it is logical to
the SMEs. As part of the memorandum, sion, with high priority accorded to reduce turnaround times on credit de-
HSBC has launched a $100 million fund Emirati-owned businesses. cisions for banks. The value at risk on a
specifically for UAE companies with a A recent study by Duns & Bradstreet loan decreases, thus it makes sense for
turnover of $30 million or below, which on the funding of SME sector found the bank to reduce the cost of making a
are engaged in cross-border business. that banks with a strategic focus on the loan decision. Not only that, but in the
The UAE fund is part of the HSBC’s SME market try to tailor their credit highly competitive UAE market a cus-
global strategy to support internation- and other banking products to meet tomer kept waiting too long may well go
ally focused SMEs, by ensuring that the needs of this segment. They do this elsewhere.

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 13

Credit guarantees critical
Higher risk premiums caused by information gap,
lack of recovery mechanism
B
ankers feel that some sort
of a credit guarantee by the
government or its designated
agencies will go a long way
in ensuring adequate bank financing
for the SME units as lending to the
sector otherwise presents a relatively
higher risk proposition.
While the banks are doubtless
looking at SMEs as a distinct market
segment and registering 20-30 per cent
year on year growth in lending to the
14 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
SME sector, they remain cautiously
optimistic when it comes to funding
them. One of the reasons for their
concern is that there is no standard-
ized recovery mechanism to seize the
assets of defaulters. Although some
legal framework for this may be in
place, the results and speed of the
process can sometimes lack consist-
ency and involve long delays. Another
reason for the uncertainty is that
small trading and services companies
May 2010
constitute the majority of the sector
and it is quite difficult to predict their
long term cash flows or assets that can
serve as useful collaterals.
The biggest problem, of course, is
that there is a fundamental informa-
tion gap between the lenders and the
borrowers with the result that banks
are unable to accurately ascertain the
creditworthiness of their borrowers,
so they add hefty risk premiums to
their interest rates. This in turn makes
finance less affordable to the small and
medium businesses.
There is a fundamental information gap between
Given the high-risk nature of the the lenders and the borrowers with the result
sector, it is believed that a third of all
small and medium businesses do not that banks are unable to accurately ascertain the
make it to the bank in terms of fund- creditworthiness of their borrowers, so they add
ing even under normal circumstances.
Crisis situations hurt the sector as hefty risk premiums to their interest rates
much as any other, but these units do
not feel the pinch immediately as some
payments continue to come by and as
such there is a time lag before they are tor, but at the same time points out Hong Kong is one place where govern-
seriously affected. But once that hap- that the information asymmetry that ment guarantees have been packaged
pens, their problems continue to per- prevails in the SME sector needs to be into an excellent service and this
sist beyond the resolution of the crisis. addressed. SME units are not known has contributed tremendously in the
So, the small businesses may be the to be good at financial transparency, growth of the sector. But in certain
last to enter the credit crisis, but they but in the interest of greater liquidity other markets, it has complicated the
are also the last to come out of it. The for funding their growth, the regula- issue further, leading to a lot of avoid-
liquidity crisis is not just one-sided, as tors need to encourage them to follow able bureaucracy and delays, with the
the banks are also very much a part of regular financial reporting systems so result that it simply fails to further
the process and suffer from their own that it is easier to monitor them. Also, the interests of the small and medium
liquidity issues. there has to be central registry for the businesses.
It is in the backdrop of such a SME sector, which will help the banks According to Citibank, a key trend
scenario that the banks are asking for in assessing the strengths and weak- of the post-financial crisis environment
help from the government in terms nesses of the units and assess them is that the banks are offering lending
of guarantees and safeguards against more realistically, he said. facilities linked to clients’ ‘trade cycles’
default, although they have no hesita- Nicholas Levitt, Regional Head of rather than providing them facilities
tion in admitting that the sector is Business Banking HSBC, says credit where there was limited end-moni-
potentially one of the most promising guarantees do help, but points out that toring. Citibank says it is looking at
growth area for the banks. there are examples of credit guarantee innovative lending solutions for com-
“Credit guarantees are quite criti- achieving outstanding success while panies by mitigating risk through a
cal for the banks to ensure expanded in some other markets it has flopped. combination of factors including credit
credit flow to the small and medium
businesses,’ says Hemant Lalithraj,
Senior Vice President, Retail Banking
Group, SME Business, Mashreqbank.
Equally important is the need for
greater transparency and monitor-
ing of the sector so that some of the
undesirable tendencies shown by the
owners of small businesses, such as the
diversion of working capital to specu-
lative purposes, as it happened during
the property boom, are held in check,
he argues.
Rajesh Gupta, Head, Products &
Segmentation, SME Banking, Standard
Chartered, highlights the importance
and growth potential of the SME sec-

16 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

insurance. Citibank typically adopts umes have gone down, which means is a need to establish the ideal size of
a cautious approach to the small and they need proper hand holding facili- establishments within a range and
medium enterprise businesses. “Given ties to tide over the crisis. There is also their characteristics, such as labour
that all banks are operating in the greater need for better monitoring of and capital intensity, he explains.
same playing field, lending across both credit portfolio by the banks to avoid He points out that arriving at a
retail and commercial bank space has deterioration in the health of credit common definition for the SME unit
been cautious,” a bank spokesman portfolio, he added. has created further awareness among
said. Mohammed Ahmed Wajdi, Senior the banking and financial industry
Citibank suggests that there should Vice President and Head of Business about the critical importance of the
be mandatory filing of financial state- Banking, Dubai Islamic Bank, is call- SME as a backbone of the UAE econ-
ments for companies and this could be ing for the establishment of a sector- omy and the new national plan for the
started with companies where lending wise index for the SMEs. He suggests development of the SME sector, which
is more than Dh250,000. This data that the index can be calculated on the is being prepared by the Ministry of
is anyway reported by banks to the basis of the number of SMEs in the Economy will further facilitate the role
Central Bank and this will help banks relevant industry proportion to the of the small and medium businesses in
make better risk decisions. total enterprises. Against this, there the country’s economic development.
Additionally, there is dearth of
data on the commercial sector overall.
Highlighting the importance of a
credit bureau, the bank says that if an
independent body can provide cred-
ible information, banks will be well
positioned to cater to their require-
ments.
A J Vidyasagar, Chief Executive
Officer of State Bank of India (SBI),
points out that competition is obvi-
ously providing greater accessibility
to finance as well as credit at cheaper
rates to small and medium businesses.
“But SMEs are generally considered to
be in the higher risk category. Hence
post the financial crisis, financial
institutions would be more careful in
lending to this segment. While there
would be no drying up of finance,
financial institutions would lay greater
emphasis on the security aspect and
focus more on sound financials of the
company,” he explained.
According to Ashok Gupta, Chief
Executive, Bank of Baroda, UAE, the
SME sector is one of the most adverse-
ly affected due to the financial crisis.
The working capital requirement of
SME borrowers has increased due to
delay in sales realization owing to slow
down in the market. This has resulted
in an increase in demand for working
capital finance from SME borrowers.
On the other hand their business vol-

18 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

 State Bank of India

Corporate Banking Services

in UAE

Trade Finance Term Finance

• Letters of Credit • Project Finance (Green-field &
(Issuing /Advising/Confirming) Brown-field projects) along with
• Trust Receipts Advisory Services
• Export & Import Bills • Augmentation of Working Capital
(Collection/Negotiation/ • Import of Plant & Machinery
Purchase/Discount)
• Bank Guarantees Syndication
• Buyers’ Credit & Suppliers’ • Participation in Syndicated
Credit Deals (Primary & Secondary
Market) along with arranging and
underwriting
Working Capital Finance
• Fund Based Deposits
(Overdraft, Demand Loan etc.) • Accept non-Dirham Deposits
• Non-Fund Based from Professional Clients in
(LCs, BGs etc.) Non-State Markets

DIFC Branch – Regulated by the DFSA

P O Box 482033, Level 2, Gate Village 05, DIFC, Dubai, UAE.
Tel +971 4 3230203; Fax +971 4 3230204.
Email sbidifc@eim.ae • Website www.sbi.ae

State Bank of India’s DIFC Branch is regulated by DFSA. In terms of its license it can offer Non-Dirham credit to any Corporate.
Deposits can be sourced in any Non-Dirham currency from Professional Clients in Non-state markets.
 C OV ER
SME SPECIAL
STORY - BANK S

Monetary discipline and

support are key
Mashreq says government guarantees will greatly
help banks in offering credit

M
ashreq firmly believes of the small and
that growth of the medium busi-
SME sector provides ness units so that
an important boost to any undesirable
an economy – SME sector constitutes tendency is kept
90 per cent of the financial system in out of the sys-
our region. Mashreq has succeeded tem. Hemant is a
in becoming a leading name associ- seasoned banker
ated with small and medium sized with expertise in a
enterprises sector in the UAE through number of various
several initiatives and business devel- areas in the bank-
opment activities undertaken to boost ing industry.
this sector, according to Hemant Lali- Hemant cites
thraj, Head of SME Business. the cases of ir-
In this respect, he hailed the ini- responsible be-
tiatives of the Mohammed Bin Rashid havior by owners
Establishment for SME Develop- of small and me-
ment in promoting the cause of the dium enterprises
small and medium businesses. Also, during the spec-
a number of new and active measures Hemant Lalithraj, Head of SME Business ulative run on
are expected to be put in place by the the stock market and later during the
UAE top leadership and government, policies and programmes to facilitate property boom in the country. “When
which will strengthen the Emarati en- the growth of the SME sector, he said. they found that the stock market was
trepreneurs’ participation in the self- Hemant Lalithraj, who has a pas- yielding returns in multiples of what
employed segment, thus help the SME sionate association with SME banking they could hope to make from their
units, he noted. Mashreq works closely in the UAE from its early days, under- regular business, these business own-
with these institutions in formulating lined the need for close monitoring ers invested all their resources into the

20 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

stock market. They even diverted their
working capital into stock market in-
vestments,” he pointed out.
“When the speculative bubble burst
in the stock market, they found even
a more attractive proposition in the
property market, which happened to
be riding one of the most unnatural
booms in history. And when things
suddenly went wrong, many of them
found themselves faced with the pros-
pects of ending their business”.
Hemant says Mashreq never stopped
funding for the SMEs even during
the financial crisis, but the bank was
lending more prudently, with proper
checks and balances in place so that
there was no misuse of the fund. “We
have always educated our customers
to be more responsible borrowers. We
ensure to offer tailor-made services as
we are partners in the success of our
customers” he said.
The bank has done a proper seg-
mentation of its SME customers so as
to identify the ones that have been bet-
ter performers and those who ended
up losing money in their businesses.
This has helped the bank to selectively
increase credit lines to healthy busi-
nesses and even put further capital
into their business. According to him,
Mashreq has sophisticated tools to
achieve this task and the results are
already showing lower delinquency
rates and a healthier portfolio of SME
business.
Hemant said Mashreq encourages
customers to avail of ‘self-liquidating’
facilities which do not leave much
scope for misuse. “Self-liquidating fa-
cilities are not evergreen facilities like
overdrafts and this helps customers to
Strategic partnership with government bodies
and diversifying product offering plays an
important role in attracting more customers
exercise greater self-discipline on the extremely healthy in the long term, he
monetary front and it also makes their points out.
relationship with the bank easier. We “Going by the experience during
also lay emphasis on products like fac- and after the crisis, banks need to
toring, which is a great help for open keep their best customers and keep
account trade,” he said. adding to the number. In the end,
Hemant says the bank’s SME busi- what distinguishes a bank from the
ness is showing significant growth rest would be its success in diversi-
and feels that the SME segment will fying the product offerings, bringing
see more banks entering the fray at a in the best class of products from the
rapid pace. But those who are already rest of the world, providing high end
present in the business strongly are convenience to their customers along
likely to deploy more resources and with sophisticated delivery channels
capital into the business as the sector as and service levels,” he says.
a whole is growing at
a remarkable rate. In
this regard, Mashreq
is already adding to
its SME teams.
At the same time,
he says the optimism
has to be laced with
caution. With real
estate prices coming
under a lot of pres-
sure and banks go-
ing into foreclosures,
there is a great deal of
stress expected into
the SME space. A lot
of measures being
taken as corrective
action will hurt in the
short term but will be
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 21
 SME SPECIAL - BANK S
Unified national policy
required
Common commercial licensing norms and definition
together can really help, says ADCB
A
unified commercial licens-
ing policy for the small and
medium enterprises along
with a common definition
for the units together can provide very
powerful support to the SME sector,
according to Nilanjan Ray, Senior Vice
–President and, Head of SME Banking,
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
“And we believe the Governments
are taking concrete steps towards es-
tablishing this unification to help sup-
port SMEs,” he said.
At this point in time, commercial
licensing is done separately by each
Emirate. But a unified commercial li-
censing and unification of definition
for the segment can together be very
powerful to support the sector, Nilan-
jan emphasized.
According to him, while the recent
policy initiatives will be helpful to the
SME segment in the long run, current-
ly the impact of the policy initiatives
has not been felt across the businesses
and one has to see support fro this
from all the Emirates. “Support from
appropriate authorities would also go a
22 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Nilanjan Ray
long way in order to establish the wide-
spread use of the definition in banking
May 2010
industry. For instance, the
common definition can be
used to support the SME
sector with suitable fiscal
or monetary measures and
to incentivize banks to in-
crease lending to small and
medium enterprises”.
The Head of ADCB’s
SME Banking points out
that there has been a dis-
tinct preference to cash flow
based lending over collater-
al based lending in the sec-
tor. At the same time, there
has been an increased focus
on designing niche products
which cater to specialised
clusters within SME sector.
There has also been more
focus on trade finance facil-
ities, which are essentially
self liquidating in nature.
Nilanjan notes that there
are a number of banks that
are now focussing heavily on
the SME sector. However, credit appe-
tite across the banking sector has affect-
ed credit flow to SMEs. “At this point in
time, we see a definite appetite for good
SME credit risk, particularly if sup-
ported by cash flows. While increased
competition should lead to increased
credit flow, sectoral concentration of
credit on banks’ lending portfolio may
affect this,” he points out.
He says ADCB is committed to sup-
porting the SME sector. “We have con-
tinually invested in people, new prod-
ucts and processes for this sector over
last two years whilst we have seen many
of our competitors scaling back. This
counter-cyclical approach has been
very profitable for us as demonstrated
in growth of our SME portfolio. As rec-
ognition of our efforts we received an
award from Bankers Middle East for
our BusinessEdge suite of SME prod-
ucts. As a result of these initiatives,
ADCB’s SME business is carving out
an ever-increasing share of the business
lending book at ADCB”.
ADCB offers the entire suite of ac-
count services and lending solutions.
These include working capital solution,
While the recent policy initiatives will be helpful
to the SME segment in the long run, currently
the impact of the policy initiatives has not been
felt across the businesses
installment finance and equipment fi- pitals to support purchase of healthcare
nance on the lending side along with equipment. Similarly we are launching
complete range of account services. The a financing solution for users of indus-
bank also offers a full suite of trade fi- trial imaging and printing equipment.
nance products to the SME sector. Re- We also have an online Fx platform for
cently ADCB launched a unique lend- SME clients in the pipeline”.
ing solution for our current account Nilanjan said there are several cases
customer linked to their transaction where the bank’s funding has helped the
patterns which allows them an overall SME units achieve outstanding growth
enhanced relationship with the bank, and cited Coffee Planet as one of them.
he said. “We structured a financing solution for
According to him, the bank is them to meet their equipment financing
launching niche lending products to needs at the early stage of their opera-
cater to specific clusters of SME cus- tion. Coffee Planet is a young and dy-
tomers. “For example, we are in the namic company and we are happy to
process of launching a financing prod- see it spread its wings across many loca-
uct for medical professionals and hos- tions in the UAE,” he said.
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 23
 SME SPECIAL - BANK S
SMEs go international
HSBC Middle East positive about small and medium
enterprises growth
S
mall and medium enterprises
are increasingly international-
izing their operations to add
and diversify their revenue
streams and this new trend is driv-
ing local and regional SME banking
growth in 2010 to new levels.
“There is a two-way internation-
alization taking place. On the one side,
local companies are looking for inter-
national opportunities for growth and
diversification of their operations as
they realize that they need to expand
the scope of their businesses to replace
reduced revenues in their domestic
markets. In the same way, interna-
tional companies are coming and set-
ting up presences in the region, as it is
identified as an increasingly significant
global emerging market” says Nicho-
las Levitt, Regional Head of Business
Banking HSBC.
According to him, the confidence
levels within the SME sector appear
to be back to pre-financial crisis levels.
He cites the results of an HSBC survey
of the regional SMEs, which showed
that the Middle East outlook correlates
strongly to the global emerging market
outlook, and as a major international
trading hub, the region is well-placed
24 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Nicholas Levitt, Regional Head of Business Banking
for future growth.
In fact, government support for
SMEs is increasing throughout the
Gulf and not just in the UAE, with
nearly every country highlighting the
business segment as a priority sector,
May 2010
Nicholas points out. “We have
seen substantial liquidity injec-
tion, government stimulus and
aid, as well as deposit guaran-
tees, all of which will have a
positive impact on the SME sec-
tor,” he adds.
The extent of international
business varies greatly from
market to market, but overall,
the level of SME internation-
alisation is set to grow by 13
per cent by 2011, the survey
showed.
Top reasons for doing busi-
ness internationally are the
sales and revenue opportunities
as well as access to international
markets as SMEs seek to diver-
sify their risk beyond domestic
markets.
The most preferred inter-
national business locations for
SMEs in the region are Greater
China, South-East Asia and
Europe. The top barriers for the SMEs
turning to international markets are
unstable financial conditions, such as
fluctuating exchange rates and interest
rates, costs of essential services such as
shipping, logistics and storage as well as
government regulations.
The UAE is built on cross-border
trade conducted by entrepreneurial
SMEs and this remains a critical com-
ponent of the UAE economy, he said.
There is a huge potential for the growth
of UAE’s trade with emerging markets
and HSBC is uniquely placed to finance
the expansion plans of the country’s
SMEs in this regard, he said.
HSBC has launched a $100 million
fund for supporting small and medium
businesses in the country. The fund,
which is part of the bank’s global strat-
egy to support internationally, focused
SMEs, and Emirati owned businesses,
is specifically targeted at UAE compa-
nies with a turnover of $30 million or
less to support them in cross-border
business. Lending from the fund is
meant for SMEs that need working cap-
ital finance for international expansion
and priority is given to Emirati-owned
businesses.
Underscoring the important initia-
tives taken by the UAE government and
institutions like Dubai’s Mohammed
Bin Rashid Establishment and Abu
Dhabi’s Khalifa Fund for Small and
Medium Enterprises, Nicholas pointed
out that these measures signify the gov-
ernment’s commitment to promote this
vital sector. “Recent action by the UAE
government to reduce the cost of set-
ting up and conducting business in the
UAE is a clear indicator of its commit-
ment to maintain a business-friendly
environment,” he notes.  an excessive number of qualifying crite-
Nicholas welcomed the reported
moves on the part of the UAE federal
government to launch a number of con-
crete steps to promote greater transpar-
ency in the functioning of the sector,
including the proposed federal credit
bureau.
Asked if the absence of govern-
ment guarantees is hindering growth
of credit flow to the small and medium
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
business units, he said there are exam-
ples of both success and failure on this
account. Some countries have explicit
government guarantees packaged into
their SME support services. “Hong Kong
is a great example of how guarantees are
helping the SME units to obtain working
capital and investment funds that they
require from time to time. But in certain
other jurisdictions, the credit guarantee
becomes counter-productive as the gov-
ernment role adds to a lot of avoidable
delay and reduces its application due to
ria,” he said.
HSBC, considered to be a market lead-
er in the UAE SME banking sector, offers
overdraft, trade finance and guarantees
as part of the working capital finance fa-
cilities and short and medium term loans
to meet capital expenditure. These are in
addition to a full complement of bank-
ing services, including private banking,
wealth management and insurance.
May 2010 25
 Survey shows business confidence high
Business confidence among the Middle East’s small and and Canada at 107 and the UK at 101. France is just
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is high according to a below neutral at 94. But emerging markets in Asia,
survey conducted in Q409 by TNS for HSBC. Qatar, Saudi the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe
Arabia and Egypt in the Middle East were included in the are significantly more optimistic than the developed
survey. markets of the US, Canada, the UK and France, with
Across the region, a growing proportion of small busi- an average index of 121 versus 106.
nesses are optimistic for their prospects in 2010 signaling The semi-annual HSBC Small Business Confidence
increasing capital investment and recruitment. Monitor gauges the six-month outlook of SMEs on
Qatar business confidence was the highest at 159 local economic growth, capital investment plans and
points followed by Saudi Arabia at 125 points and Egypt recruitment.
at 110 points. This was the first time that Middle East countries
Globally, the SME indices tracked by HSBC in most were included in the list of 20 markets, capturing the
countries and territories hold a positive outlook, with views of more than 6,000 SMEs in Asia, the Middle
the Middle East at 125, Latin America at 118, the US East, Europe, North America and Latin America – the
largest international survey of
its kind. The results were used
to calculate an index ranging
from 0 to 200 where 200 rep-
resents the highest confidence
level, 0 represents the lowest,
and 100, neutral. The survey
was conducted in October and
November 2009 by research
agency TNS.
The survey showed that 47
per cent of the region’s SMEs
expect local GDP growth to
increase over the next six
months. 36 per cent expect the
pace to remain the same, and
only 17 per cent expect growth
to slow.
The survey found Middle
East region to be the second
most confident region, after In-
dia when it came to investing in
their own businesses in the first
half of this year, with 47 per
cent planning to increase their
capital expenditures, 41 per
cent saying they will maintain
current levels and only 11 per
cent are planning reductions.

26 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

Outlook on recruitment plans
Recruitment sentiment in the Middle East is strongest glo- domestic markets. Top international business locations
bally. 36 cent of the region’s SMEs say they will increase for the region are Greater China, South-East Asia and
staff in the next six months and 58 per cent saying they will Europe.
keep staff levels the same.
Recruitment is generally
stable across the 20 mar-
kets in the survey.
The HSBC Small Busi-
ness Confidence Monitor
also asked SMEs about
the extent of their cross-
border trade and other
international business,
such as overseas opera-
tions. Across all markets,
3 in 10 SMEs surveyed
say they have some level
of cross-border trade or
international business.
In Qatar, the number is
nearly 7 in 10.
In Qatar 69 percent
of SMEs surveyed were
involved in international
business, in Saudi Arabia
it was 27 per cent and in
Egypt 33 per cent.
When SMEs were asked
if they plan to engage in
international business in
the next two years, 72
per cent of Qatar SMEs
planned to grow their
international business. In
Egypt it was 28 per cent
and in Saudi Arabia 19
percent.
Top reasons for doing
business internationally
are the sales and revenue
opportunities as well as
access to international
markets as SMEs seek to
diversify their risk beyond

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 27

 SME SPECIAL - BANK S
Opportunities abound for SMEs
Citibank’s Small & Mid Market Enterprises business
will be the growth engine for the next few years
I
t must be made mandatory for all
banks to participate in the Credit
Bureau, Citibank spokesmen told
BBR in response to a question on
the issues that needed to be addressed
to enhance credit flow to the SME sec-
tor. Such a move will strengthen the
overall financial services industry, they
pointed out.
Even before we went to the press
with the bank’s response came the
announcement from the Media Of-
fice of the Dubai Ruler’s Court that
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE, in his capacity
as Ruler of Dubai, has issued a decree
designating Emirates Credit Infor-
mation Company (Emcredit) as the
official credit information agency of
Dubai and making it mandatory for
all Dubai-based banks and financial
institutions to join its database.
The development shows how keenly
are the authorities tuned in to sug-
gestions from the banking industry
for improving the conditions for the
growth of credit flow to the small and
28 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
medium business sector. that this initiative will definitely help
“Access to reliable financial state- the banking community to address the
ments is a concern not just for Citi but needs of SME’s in a structured way”.
all banks. There should be mandatory According to Citibank, the post-fi-
filing of financial statements for com- nancial crisis environment has seen the
panies and this could be started with bank adopt a cautious approach to the
companies where lending is more than SME/MME businesses and the lend-
Dh250,000. This data is any way re-
ported by banks to Central Bank and
this will help banks make better risk
decisions,” said Sanjoy Sen, Consumer
Bank Head – Middle East.
“There is a dearth of data on the
commercial sector overall - if an in-
dependent body can provide credible
information, banks will be well posi-
tioned to cater to their requirements,”
he said.
Asked about how the moves to rede-
fine the small and medium enterprise
have helped in creating favourable
conditions for the SME units, Satyajeet
Roy, Local Commercial Bank Head,
said Citi globally has a well-defined
SME and MME (Mid-market enter- Sanjoy Sen
prises) target market definition. “The
SME definition falls broadly within the ing business overall. “ Increasingly, we
recent announcement and we believe are witnessing banks offering lending
May 2010
facilities linked to clients ‘trade-cycle’
rather than facilities where there was
limited end-use monitoring,” Satyajeet
Roy said.
Citibank believes that with compe-
tition within the segment increasing,
finances have become more accessible
to small and medium units. But at the
same time, given that all banks are op-
erating in the same playing field (gov-
erned to some extent by the common
external environment), lending across
both retail and commercial bank space
has been cautious. “However, Citi is
looking at innovative lending solu-
tions for companies by mitigating risk
through a combination of factors in-
cluding credit insurance”.
Citi’s commercial banking unit of-
fers a comprehensive range of cash
management, lending, trade and treas-
ury products for SME’s. This offering is
on the strong foundation of a best-in-
class service with each client managed
by a dedicated Relationship Manager.
Specifically for MME’s, the award-
winning internet banking platform
(CitiDirect), the cash management/
treasury solutions available coupled
with the global network makes Citi a
natural choice for entities with busi-
nesses in multiple geographies, the
bank said.
Citi recently introduced Investment
& Insurance solutions for companies
– bringing its on-shore and off-shore
Wealth Management expertise and
global product range to its commercial
clients.
Despite the events of the last 18
months or so, the bank’s commercial
banking arm posted higher revenues in
2009 vs. 2008 and is slated to contribute
20 per cent to the bank’s bottom line in
UAE, Citi said.
Citibank says it is committed to the
Small &Mid-market Enterprises seg-
ment in the Middle East Region with
specific focus in UAE and Bahrain
where this business has shown substan-
tial growth in the last 4 years. Accord-
ing to the bank, this forms a part of the
There is a dearth of data on the commercial
sector overall - if an independent body can
provide credible information, banks will be well
positioned to cater to their requirements
Satyajeet Roy
Local Commercial Bank business under
the umbrella of Consumer Bank where
the bank enjoys an eminent position
on the foundation of a dominant Cards
and Wealth Management business.
The bank says its SME and MME
proposition is clearly articulated in
terms of client needs. The SME seg-
ment looks at entities up to $50million
annual turnover with a full suite of cash
management and lending products
with a strong service delivery support.
The MME segment caters to large local
and global entities with a $50-250 mil-
lion annual turnover that require Citi’s
geographical spread and connectivity
through its transaction services, Trade
and Forex platforms.
“We continue to view the UAE as a
regional hub serving the Gulf and Le-
vant region, not to mention the local
market, which is fast expanding and
becoming more sophisticated. We real-
ize that the Small & Mid Market seg-
ment is one of the most under-served
segments; therefore, and in line with
our stated objective, it was only natural
to add the Cheque/Bill Discounting &
Trade Finance products. Apart from
the introduction of these products, we
also offer ‘value-added’ benefits like an
online platform for salary payments
through the Wage Protection System,
mandated by the Ministry of Labour.
Such bundled offering will help build
stronger partnerships with our clients,”
Roy added.

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 29

 SME SPECIAL - BANK S

Risk-reward balance crucial

There are roadblocks to affordable credit for small
and medium businesses, says StanChart

T
he biggest challenge for the double-negative effect
SME banking sector in the for SMEs with the de-
UAE is to strike a balance crease in bank credit.
between risk and reward in Rajesh Gupta is
order to achieve a situation that is mu- responsible for the
tually beneficial to the banks as well overall strategy and
as small and medium businesses, says governance of Stand-
Rajesh Gupta, Acting Head of SME ard Chartered’s SME
Banking, Standard Chartered UAE. business. His unit
Banks have been extremely cau- develops structured
tious in their approach to SME bank- solutions to further
ing. While the SME segment provides build on Standard
opportunities for banks to earn higher Chartered’s strong
margins as compared to traditional SME market pres-
corporate banking, it also poses poten- ence and increase
tially greater credit risk due to lack of market share. Having
credible credit information and quality returned to Standard
of financials for SMEs. In such a sce- Chartered in the UAE
nario, while some banks have scaled in 2006, Rajesh cur-
back SME lending, others have looked rently oversees a team
to mitigate risks arising out of the giv- of more than 100 em-
en challenges. ployees in addition
“SMEs today are struggling to get Rajesh Gupta to a third party sales
the right kind of financial support force of more than
from the banking industry. The major out. SMEs have faced pressure on their 200. He has significantly contributed
challenge is to get affordable financing working capital lines due to piling up to the growth of SME Banking unit as
with low collateral requirement, which of inventories and the slow recovery a market leader in the UAE and contin-
is different to banks’ motives to provide of trade receivables. There has been a ues to build its profile externally.
low risk financing at better spread. The
challenge in this scenario is to strike
a balance between risk and reward in Anything that the Government can do to
order to achieve a mutually beneficial
situation,” Rajesh told BBR.
improve the banks’ ability to make sound credit
It has been challenging for the SMEs decisions would be helpful in increasing the
to obtain finance since the global re-
cession has resulted in tighter liquidity appetite for SME risk
and lower credit appetite, he pointed

30 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

 Prior to moving to the UAE, Rajesh
worked for ABN AMRO in a number of
other counties in Europe, Middle East
and Asia and has vast experience in
the corporate, wholesale banking and
transaction banking businesses in vari-
ous country, regional and head-office
roles.
In the absence of a central register
for creating charge over moveable/fixed
assets of companies, banks are not able
to create an effective charge over the
assets financed, he points out. “Risk of
double financing of the same asset is
high. Most banks do not consider as-
sets as realisable collateral due to this
reason, creating a roadblock for afford-
able, low risk assets”.
“Anything that the Government
can do to improve our ability to make
sound credit decisions would be help-
ful in increasing the appetite for SME
risk - transparent reporting, robust
bankruptcy, legislations, perfection of
collateral and most importantly, a posi-
tive credit bureau.
Rajesh welcomed the government
initiatives for credit guarantees, but
noted that these proposed schemes as
reported are significantly lagging best
practice in that first-loss protection is
very low. “Internationally, Hong Kong
and Singapore offer 100 per cent pay-
ment guarantee to banks. We would
have been keen to support expanded
Private –Public Partnership for fund-
ing SMEs, as we do in Hong Kong and
Singapore, but only if the risk-mitiga-
tion was higher. The Khalifa Fund (Abu
Dhabi) and MBRE (Dubai) have done
some good work in this regard and we
continue to work closely with them,” he
said.
Referring to the difficulties for
SME units to access start-up capital,
he pointed out that, given the transient
nature of the market, most banks will
only lend after three years of establish-
ment. “This makes it very hard for small
and medium businesses to access start
up capital. The government can help
enormously here by being more aggres-
sive on credit guarantees or by creating
In the absence of a central register for creating
charge over the assets of companies, banks are
not able to create an effective charge over the
assets financed
greater access to start up capital that
currently is the case,” Rajesh said.
Asked about the moves for a unified
definition for the SME units, he said so
far this has not resulted in a significant
change for the SME industry. The pri-
mary reason for this is that although
there is a common definition, no sup-
porting policy measures have been
announced. Banks continue to use in-
ternal definitions for their SME busi-
nesses, which do not necessarily align
with the common one.
“Policy makers have created better
awareness of the contribution of SMEs
to the country’s economy. They also
provide critical data which helps bank-
ers develop their SME strategies.
But he said a common definition at
the federal level will further add impe-
tus to the importance of SMEs to the
economy. “Policy measures supporting
SMEs will encourage banks to adopt a
single definition and work in the same
direction. This is key to the greater de-
velopment of an important economic
sector which still remains at its early
stages in the region,” he said.
Rajesh says Standard Chartered con-
tinued to support its customers despite
the liquidity crunch. The bank has fo-
cused on deepening relationships with
its SME customers by providing trade
and working capital solutions, he said.
“At Standard Chartered, we are
committed to our customers and have
remained open for business. The bank
continued to hire and is expanding its
Relationship Manager (RM) capacity.
We have continued to lend and have
not withdrawn credit lines from our
customers - this has helped us achieve
market share during difficult times”.
According to Rajesh, Standard Char-
tered is one of the leading SME banks
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
in UAE as well as the region and look-
ing to increase customer base by 10-12
per cent year on Standard Chartered’s
SME business was launched in Oman,
Bahrain and Qatar in 2009, since then
the segment has expanded significantly,
he said.
The bank provides a full suite of fi-
nancial solutions for our customers,
including§ trade & working capi-
tal finance, cash management, treasury
and forex services, small business loans,
international trade services and so on.
“In addition to credit growth, we
have also been helping customers hedge
their foreign exchange risks by con-
ducting seminars on trade and treasury
services to educate them on the risks
involved in international trading. This
has helped our customers to mitigate
these risks and expand their interna-
tional businesses. Due to poor equi-
ties environment and lack of trust in
various asset classes, we have also been
working on providing low risk and high
yield deposit products for our SME cus-
tomers,” Rajesh said.
Rajesh points out that the bank has
increased its resource capabilities to
provide financial solutions to custom-
ers according to their needs, rather than
selling off the shelf products. In line
with the policy of providing services
to customers closer to their work place,
the bank has relocated its branches in
Jebel Ali Free Zone and Deira to bigger
premises, he said.
Rajesh points out that the bank
has a large base of successful SMEs
which have grown over the years. “As a
banker, it is satisfying to see customers
grow from small businesses to become
renowned names, adding value to the
economy and generating employment
at a large scale,” he adds.
May 2010 31
 SME SPECIAL - BANK S

SME index a useful tool

Move for national plan to develop sector signifies
growing importance, says DIB

D
ubai Islamic Bank has
called for a sector-wise
SME index to strengthen
the growth of the small
and medium businesses. The index The
SME index can be calculated as the
number of SMEs in a particular indus-
try as a proportion to the total number
of enterprises, says Mohammed Ahmed
Wajdi, SVP- Head Of Business Bank-
ing, Dubai Islamic Bank.
According to him, there is a need
to establish the ideal size of establish-
ments within a range and their charac-
teristics such as labour and capital in-
tensity. The index could also be based
on different
Mohammed agrees that arriving at
a common definition for the SME unit Mohammed Ahmed Wajdi
has helped create further awareness
among the banking and financial insti-
tutions about the critical importance of There is a need to establish the ideal size
the SME as the backbone of the UAE
economy. There are 260,000 compa-
of establishments within a range and their
nies in the UAE and 208,000 of them characteristics such as labour and capital
are SMEs, roughly accounting for 80
per cent of the economy, he said quot- intensity
ing sources.

32 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

 The Federal Government move to
drawing up a national plan to prompt
the small and medium business sec-
tor is indicative of the bigger role that
the SME sector has been assigned, he
pointed out. The Ministry of Economy
has been given the mandate by the UAE
Cabinet to develop this plan and the
ministry is now working on a draft law
for the sector, he pointed out.
The UAE has been ranked among
the top 5 from 84 countries in terms
of support to SMEs. Others in the top
list are Bahrain, France, Singapore and
Hong Kong.
Like his peers in the business, Mo-
hammed feels that despite the global fi-
nancial crisis, banks remain cautiously
optimistic about lending to the SMEs.
In a year’s time, banks are expected to
provide comprehensive solution to the
SMEs, a segment which is currently
underserved but growing at the fastest
rate, he said.
Although a well-developed SMEs
sector can make significant contribu-
tions to macro-economic stability and
growth, the small and medium busi-
nesses are relatively of high risk and
with the financial crisis shaking the
pillars of the corporate sector, SMEs
were heavily exposed to risk and they
faced increasing barriers to capital ac-
cess, Mohammed said.
“On the one hand, this impedes
their ability to obtain funding, and on
the other, they are forced to pay higher
interest” he said. Also, in times of fi-
nancial crisis, the markets perform
poorly, with the result that the entry
of new firms becomes more limited,
further compounding the problems of
Although a well-developed SMEs sector can
make significant contributions to macro-
economic stability and growth, the small and
medium businesses are relatively of high risk
the small and medium enterprises,” he
pointed out.
SMEs are a focused segment and
require backing of both resources
and strategy. Though quite number of
banks offer products suited for the SME
segment, the offerings are not yet pro-
viding a competing edge, he said and
pointed out that the importance given
to the SMEs within any bank depends
more on the overall strategy and its risk
appetite.
Financing is selectively considered,
however, as stipulated by the banking
regulatory policies on lending SMEs
based on certain criteria.
Mohammed said DIB is among the
banks that have a dedicated team to
cater to this sector. “Initially we had a
conservative approach, which meant
longer time to understand this segment
in terms of profitability and risks as-
sociated with it”. But he said the bank
now constantly seeks to provide inno-
vative Shariah-compliant products and
solutions required to meet the needs of
the SME customers.
DIB offers an array of customized
products for the SME sector, such as
working capital finance, capital ex-
penditure finance, contracting finance,
fleet finance, treasury and trade serv-
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
ices, including letters of credit and
guarantees. Under the Small Business
Finance category, the bank offers up to
Dh500,000 for wholesalers, retailers,
manufacturers etc.
Similarly, as part of the package pro-
viding flexibility in managing the daily
business requirements of small and me-
dium businesses, DIB also offers cash
management services, such as Collec-
tion/ Deposit, E-Reporting, E-Payment
and E-Trade.
The Al Islami Business Accounts
are designed to help businesses grow
by efficiently taking care of their busi-
ness transaction needs and this product
comes in three packages such as Al Is-
lami Business Account, Al Islami Busi-
ness Account Plus and Al Islami Busi-
ness Account Premium. Each account
package offers a unique combination of
benefits, Mohammed pointed out.
Apart from these, DIB has recently
introduced the ‘early bird’ approach in
the SME business, which has been cat-
egorized as a focused segment, where
there are teams supporting various
target segments of industries. These
teams have the dual functions of asset
and liability book management as well
as cross-selling of the bank’s products,
he said.
May 2010 33
 SME SPECIAL - BANK S
SMEs need handholding to
tide over crisis
Bank of Baroda has always supported small and
medium businesses, says CEO
T
he working capital require-
ment of SME borrowers has
increased due to slowdown
in the market while their
business volumes have gone down, ne-
cessitating handholding facilities for
them to tide over the crisis, according
to Ashok Gupta, Chief Executive, Bank
of Baroda, UAE.
“The SME sector is one of the most
adversely affected by the financial cri-
sis. The working capital requirement
of SME borrowers has increased due to
delay in sales realization owing to slow
down in the market. This has resulted
in an increase in demand for working
capital finance from SME borrowers.
On the other hand, their business vol-
umes have gone down and what they
need are proper hand holding facilities
to tide them over the crisis. This is be-
ing effectively done at Bank of Baroda
as there is flexibility within the broader
framework,” Ashok Gupta said.
The post-financial crisis situation
has also increased the need for better
monitoring of credit portfolio by the
banks to avoid deterioration in the
health of credit folio, he pointed out.
Gupta said policy initiatives such as
arriving at a common definition for the
SME unit will ensure proper identifica-
tion of SMEs and facilitate easy credit
flow to the SMEs.
In late 2009, the Dubai Govern-
ment set a general definition for SMEs,
which is differentiated by sector and
takes both turnover and workforce size
into account. The Dubai Chamber of
Commerce considers companies with
less than 10 employees micro, those
34 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Ashok Gupta
with less than 20 or 24 small and those
with less than 100 medium-size, pro-
vided turnover is less than Dh100 mil-
lion, he pointed out. The UAE banks
usually consider companies small if
their turnover is below $10 million
a year and medium-size if it is under
$25 million, but for Bank of Baroda,
companies with an annual turnover
of Dh100 million are classified as SME
borrowers, he said.
Ashok Gupta said Bank of Baroda
has always been active in support-
ing and financing SMEs. The fact that
other banks have also started looking
at this segment is a healthy sign as
SMEs will have more access to funds
at more competitive rates, he said. This
will help them to grow faster. “Bank of
Baroda is offering financing as well as
With a view to providing the SMEs specialized
services, Bank of Baroda recently established a
specialized outfit named SME Loan Factory
May 2010
other services to SMEs at very
competitive rates,” he said.
He said that the bank is
continuously introducing
new products and services for
SMEs to suit their require-
ments. “SME units certainly
will have the feeling of work-
ing with the right banking
partner, once they are in the
company of Bank of Baroda,”
he said.
With a view to providing
the SMEs specialized services, Bank
of Baroda recently established a spe-
cialized outfit named SME Loan Fac-
tory. This outfit works exactly on the
principles of assembly line in the fac-
tory, where there is a fixed time limit
to carry out each and every activity. All
the credit decisions are taken in a time
bound manner, he said.
Apart from providing regular re-
quirements such as Working Capital
limits, Term Loans, Demand Loans
etc, SME Loan Factory also offers in-
novative products, keeping in view the
specific requirements of SMEs such as:
line of credit, equipment finance, trad-
ers loan, overdraft against property for
business purposes, project finance and
express foan for traders, professionals
and business units.
 SME SPECIAL - BANK S

Refinancing for lenders a

big help
SBI says it continued lending to SMEs even during
peak recession

I
nstitutional arrangements to re- end, financial institu-
finance will greatly strengthen tions too would adopt a
the hands of lenders to the small more liberal approach
and medium businesses, accord- to lending, he said.
ing to AJ Vidyasagar, Chief Executive Vidyasagar pointed
Officer of State Bank of India (SBI) at out that when it comes
DIFC. to lenders based at the
“In India we have institutions like DIFC, there is a con-
SIDBI, which among other things straint that no charge
provides refinancing facilities to insti- can be created on the
tutions. A similar arrangement here immovable assets of the
could further strengthen the hands of units. A change to the
the lenders who are willing to lend to law putting the DIFC
this segment,” Vidyasagar said. entities on the same
The UAE is home to a large number level as the entities reg-
of SME units, which have played a ulated by Central Bank
significant part in the growth of the of UAE for this purpose
country and so it is gratifying to note would further enhance
that the Government has refocused credit to this segment,
on this segment and taken a lot of he suggested.
initiatives in further strengthening The Indian bank
this activity, he pointed out. With CEO pointed out that
the recession gradually coming to an AJ Vidyasagar the bank started op-

36 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

erations during the period of recession
when most banks were not willing to
lend to this segment. “However, we
adopted a positive attitude and pro-
vided substantial credit to several SME
units,” he said.
SBI has started its Corporate Bank-
ing Services only last year and hence is
in the process of garnering a part of the
market share, he said. “Our approach
to SME business is characterised by
positive attitude, transparent deal-
ings, competitive interest rates, per-
sonalized and courteous service and
need-based financing. In due course
of time, we are planning to have dedi-
cated personnel to cater exclusively to
this segment,” Vidyasagar said.
In India, SBI has been a pioneer in
SME financing and all along provided
focused credit to this segment. There
is a separate business group to focus
exclusively on this segment. Exclu-
sive Loan processing centre, exclusive
branches, exclusive schemes and spe-
cialized products and personnel con-
tribute to the tremendous importance
SBI provides to the segment.
“From DIFC branch, we have con-
tinued the tradition of SBI and provid-
ed substantial credit to this segment.
About 60 per cent of the total credit of
our branch is provided to units in the
segment,” he said.
Vidyasagar pointed out that SMEs
are generally considered to be in the
higher risk category. Hence post the
financial crisis, financial institutions
“Our approach to SME business is characterised
by positive attitude, transparent dealings,
competitive interest rates, personalized and
courteous service and need-based financing”
would be more careful in lending to vals, he said.
this segment. While there would be “In short it would provide the SME
no drying up of finance, financial in- segment a distinct place in the scheme
stitutions would lay greater emphasis of things,” he pointed out.
on the security aspect and focus more SBI offers the whole gamut of prod-
on sound financials of the company, he ucts required by SME units for their
said. operations, Vidyasagar said. These in-
The leading Indian banker noted clude trade finance facilities like issu-
that there is increasing competition ing, advising, confirmation and nego-
among the various banks to cater to tiation of LCS and also Trust Receipts.
this segment. Competition would ob- SBI also issues bank guarantees, apart
viously provide greater accessibility to from collection and negotiation of all
finance and also enables availability of types of bills and provision of financ-
credit at cheaper rates. ing at both ends of the trade transac-
Referring to the government initia- tion by sanctioning suppliers credit as
tives to strengthen the SME sector, he well as buyers credit.
said a common definition for SME is The bank offers the full range of
the first step towards focusing on the working capital credit facilities wheth-
segment. This would enable all con- er they are fund-based or non-fund
cerned to arrive at the exact exposure based, he said. It also provides term
by various financial institutions on loans also for setting up plant and ma-
the SME segment for the time being as chinery, project expansion, import of
well as on an ongoing basis. It would capital goods etc. The bank even offers
provide the tool for the authorities to syndicated services wherever the ticket
monitor the exposure at regular inter- size is big, he added.
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 37
 C OV ER
SME SPECIAL
STORY - C OMPANIES
European heritage adapted to
Middle East
At Baker & Spice, they not only know and love the
food, they know how to grow it as well
E
uropean heritage, adapted to
the Middle East to create a
unique version of local soul
food. That’s how Baker &
Spice describe themselves. “We know
and love our food”.
At Baker & Spice, they not only
know and love the food; they also know
how to grow the food, cook it and of
course serve.
The menu represents an exciting
daily journey through the farms and
markets of the UAE and the region,
constantly changing with the seasons
and availability of fresh locally grown
and mainly organic ingredients. What
diners get there is an ‘experience with
food in its purest and freshest form’.
Baker & Spice started as a concept
in London in 1995 by Yael Mejia. It was
set up as an artisan food shop mak-
ing everything in their kitchens. The
London’s iconic food shop has been
brought to the UAE by Kharafi Glo-
bal, a Kuwait-based F&B company
owned by Kuwaiti nationals Waleed Al
Kharafi and Haidar Al Naqeeb.
The B&S spirit arrived in the emir-
ates when Baker & Spice Dubai opened
in January 2009. Located in the Souk
Al Bahar, it is a large dining and retail
space, including a terrace overlook-
ing the Dubai Fountain at the base of
the Burj Khalifa. The restaurant can
seat 150 diners and offers a breakfast,
lunch, dinner and retail menu.
38 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
“Mashreq has been with us from the first step of
entering the Dubai market and we are extremely
pleased with this partnership”
“I have to say it’s very challenging
and at the same time encouraging to
see what exactly can B&S add to the
market here. The food industry is mas-
sive here with international brands that
have been around for a very long time.
But we believe that B&S with its unique
combination in its offering can add so
much to the diversity in the market
here, build a reputation for its own and
stand out,” says Mohamad El Chehimi,
Dubai General Manager .
“Baker & Spice is considered one of
the best restaurants serving fresh and
quality food in town. The concept the-
ory is unique; hence it’s difficult to lo-
cate a restaurant business with similar
standards. The first priority is to look at
what is in season locally and within the
region, and in peak condition. Sourc-
ing food this way means that we are
minimizing our food miles and carbon
footprint, and the journey from field to
plate is significantly shorter,” he points
out.
Mohammed says that the aim is to
establish a strong food retail brand in
Dubai, before taking it across the Mid-
May 2010
dle East. The market is big and full of
promising opportunities and our line of
business is booming. “Once we are done
with Dubai expansion, we will further
expand in the region”.
“We are planning to open our cen-
tral kitchen and at least two more units.
Our expansion plans are huge in this
market and we look forward to grow
further and further,” he said. But the
priority for the time being is to establish
a strong brand presence in Dubai and
expand in the region. “We look forward
to tap in various markets, when the op-
portunity arises”.
Asked about the brand’s experience
with their bankers, the general man-
ager said they are “pleased with the
level of service and products offered by
Mashreq. This greatly assists in stream-
lining our business, hence its growth.
Mashreq has been with us from the first
step of entering the Dubai market and
we are extremely pleased with this part-
nership. I am certain that Mashreq’s
continuous support will result in fur-
ther growth and success of B&S,” he
said.

Benefiting from oil boom
Dubai firm comes a long way from modest origin
S
tarting with a 12-sqft shop, do-
ing repair of motor vehicles in
1973, the ESMA group today is
a prominent player in the busi-
ness of supplying and servicing various
industrial and engineering products
for the oil and gas industry, marine on-
shore and offshore, process industries
and the petrochemical sector.
The company was founded by
Narenda (Nari) Odhrani and his broth-
er. Odhrani came to Dubai after com-
pleting training as mechanical engi-
neer to pursue a career in maintenance
and repair of vehicles. In those days,
4-wheel drives were the main mode of
commuting between oil installations
and the rest of the country, so the busi-
ness did make sense. But according to
Yogesh Odhrani, the son who joined
the business in 2002, within one year,
the repair business got stuck in a rough
patch and it was around this time that
the oil boom was happening. So, the
Odhrani brothers sensed a great op-
portunity there and plunged into the
oil fields supply business. That proved
to be the all-important break.
The main activity of the new venture
was trading of goods, buying llocally
from regional companies and selling to
major American companies that were
involved in the drilling of oil wells all
over the country
“Soon after, we established relation-
ships directly with manufacturers who
SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES
ESMA, which banks with HSBC, is constantly
adding new dimensions to the business
were looking to partner with com-
panies that excelled with knowledge
about the oil and gas industry,” recalls
Yogesh.
Within two years, the operations
shifted to a premises five times larger
and an even larger stocking location
was hired for holding the inventory.
As the business further grew, the loca-
tion was again shifted to a facility three
times higher and incorporated a ware-
house, workshop and offices. By the
early eighties, the operations expanded
to Abu Dhabi, with the addition of sev-
eral other locations.
“We kept reinvesting back into our
business and initiated direct imports
from the manufacturers and building
inventory of the products. Our first
customer, Weatherford, an American
company involved in drilling oil wells,
encouraged us to develop our business
to provide services on site rather than
continuing with trading. Working with
Weatherford and several other local
and international companies, e.g. AD-
NOC, Dowell Schlumberger etc was an
enjoyable experience,” he said.
Initially the business was estab-
lished in Dubai followed by expansion
towards Abu Dhabi in 1981 and the ad-
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
dition of several locations to the busi-
ness.
In 1995, the company moved its
headquarters to Dubai’s Al Quoz area
and in 2001, the first overseas branch
was established in Azerbaijan, which
was followed by another expansion of
the Abu Dhabi operations into a facil-
ity four times larger. Three years later,
the company opened its second over-
seas branch in Kazakhstan and moved
the corporate office to Jebel Ali Free
Zone. Also added was a new location in
Deira.
According to Yogesh, the business
has gained reputation thanks to the
support from its loyal customers all
over the region. “With excellent cus-
tomers and the growing number of pro-
fessionals in this industry, our company
has achieved a leading position in our
industry, and this has received great ap-
preciation from out clients.”
Yogesh says ESMA, which banks
with HSBC, is constantly adding new
dimensions to the business. “We are
considering several options for expan-
sion, one of which is the establishment
of a manufacturing company for Sys-
tems & Equipment related to the oil and
gas industry,” he disclosed.
May 2010 339
 C OV ER
SME SPECIAL
STORY - C OMPANIES

Dominant player in IT, network

security
D
ubai-based Spectrum
Group has grown into one
of the leading IT Network
and Security training cen-
tres in the region offering SMB and
large enterprises with training, con-
sultancy and infrastructure support to
make best use of technology.
Spectrum Group is a dominant
player in the IT & network security
space – and given the level of spe-
cialisation required for the work and
the sensitivity involved working with
various clients (including Govt inves-
tigative agencies), there are only a few
names offering such solutions in the
UAE today. The group says its USP is Ajay Singh Chauhan
clearly the ability to deliver solutions
for the most complex issue through a “It would be only fair to say that a part of
high-performing team. The group won
the Your Business SME Award for Best
growth of the Group can be attributed to
Use of Technology, for 2008. Citibank’s help”
The group was founded by Ajay
Singh Chauhan, an alumnus of one of
India’s leading engineering institute prospective clients (and banks) be- expansion, he points out. “Organic
IIT, Mumbai, who worked with a lead- lieve that the company could deliver expansion is the way forward. We
ing IT company in the Middle East”. even the most complex IT security could look at some JVs in the Middle
Having gained experience and exper- issue, says Chauhan. But he says he East. The vision is to clearly add value
tise over a number of years, he saw that was lucky: having hired a set of highly for the customers and thereby to the
the region had tremendous potential competent and committed individuals, group,” he said.
for specialised businesses and decided the group has grown consistently over Asked about how his bank helped
to become an entrepreneur. the past 5 years. the company grow, he said the natu-
The group started as a training and Over the last 5 years, the group has ral fallback was to go to Citibank
technology solution provider in 2004 had a CAGR of 35 per cent. The growth where a personal account existed for
and today has four companies under has continued despite the global finan- the past so many years. “The bank’s
it. The group provides training to or- cial crisis and the group is confident of commercial banking arm was quick
ganizations such as Microsoft, Juniper, maintaining the growth trajectory for to move and offered something ini-
Guidance software etc. Spectrum has next 24-36 months. tially, which was not completely as
partnerships with Juniper Networks & According to Chauhan, the group is per requirement but sufficient to
Foundry Networks as their authorized looking at Asia and India in particular make a start. Since then, the relation-
education partners and has a state-of- for expansion. Similarly, it sees scope ship has strengthened and facilities
the-art Lab facility in a new premise of for expansion into the Middle East have grown as well. It would be only
the Knowledge Village. through the UAE operations. The na- fair to say that a part of growth of the
It was very challenging to estab- ture of the services provided does not Group can be attributed to Citibank’s
lish credibility quickly and to make need a brick-and-mortar presence for help,” Chauhan said.

40 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010


Safe and low-cost healthcare
‘Relationship with bank based on credible Trust’
D
awit Gebreegziabher,
founder of Medica Phar-
ma Enterpises, has always
been fascinated by the
power of medicine in prevention of
diseases. He has been in the UAE for
the past two decades.
Coming from Ethiopia, a country
which aspires for improved Human
Development Indicators, he works
with Ministry of Health in Ethiopia
as part of the ministry’s initiative to
provide safe and low-cost healthcare
services for the people. Gebreegziabher
was keen to give something back to so-
ciety and do something for the people
of Ethiopia.
The origin of Medica Pharma Enter-
prises can be traced to this thought. The
company has since established itself as
a leading supplier to the Ministry of
Health in Ethiopia. Having had long-
lasting successful relationships with
leading suppliers around the world, the
company is now looking at geographic
expansion within Africa.
The company has been growing at
a rate of 50 per cent year-on-year for
the last few years. “Even in 2009, when
there was serious recession all around,
our business grew at the same pace.
The trend is expected to continue well
into the next decade,” says Gebreegzia-
bher, who is immensely pleased with
the achievements of his small venture.
SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES
Dawit Gebreegziabher
He attributes the success of the com-
pany to its unique business model. “The
company chose to do business in areas
which offered huge latent opportunity.
The competitive landscape is very dif-
ferent to what you see in the Middle
The Medica Pharma Enterprises founder says
Citibank understands the company’s need in
terms of the specific requirements
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
East or for that matter in any other
developed market. The opportunity
in healthcare is unlimited,” he ex-
plains.
According to Gebreegziabher,
the company is looking at two more
countries in Africa where it wants
to explore similar business oppor-
tunities. However, this is at an early
stage yet, he says.
The Medica Pharma founder
says Citibank understands the com-
pany’s need in terms of the specific
requirement for Trade Finance fa-
cilities. Citibank’s global profile has
ensured that the company is able to
seamlessly link the various points
involved for such trade transactions
end-to-end, he said.
“Our relationship with the bank
is based on credible trust, mutual re-
spect and enthusiasm. Also, I would
like to specifically mention the round-
the-clock service that the company
has received from Citibank staff,” Ge-
breegziabher said.
May 2010 41
 SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES
A well-brewed success
D
eliver exceptional coffee in
every cup…from cart to ki-
osk to café…again and again
and again: this is what Coffee
Planet founder Richard Jones set out to
do about five years ago. Today, his com-
pany sells 10,000 cups of coffee every day
through its outlets and has extended its
presence into the hotel, office, foodservice
and catering sectors.
With a turnover of Dh25 million,
which is projected to increase to 45 mil-
lion in the next couple of years, Coffee
Planet is today the most widely distribut-
ed coffee brand in the UAE. And ADCB,
which financed much of this growth, can
take pride in helping Richard Jones create
a great success story.
Before he came to the UAE, Richard
was a founding member of a healthcare
start up business, Ludlow Street Health-
care Group, in the UK in 2004 which cur-
rently has 700 employees. According to
his bio, he worked in some of the world’s
leading blue chip companies such as
Mars, Danone and Price Waterhouse and
has a wealth of knowledge and experience
gained from his 15 years of financial, mar-
keting and commercial corporate roles.
Richard explains the idea behind Cof-
fee Planet: “We had a sense that coffee
drinkers deserved better than they were
getting and that as we were not con-
strained in our thinking, we could bring
something new to the market by only us-
ing the best Arabica coffee beans and the
most advanced technology. The UAE with
its ambitions and growth potential was a
perfect match for our coffee idea.”
He says the beginning was very diffi-
cult as Coffee Planet was a new concept.
“A gourmet fresh bean, fresh milk coffee
in a convenience store environment on
petrol forecourts had never been done in
Middle East and nobody gave us much
chance to succeed. But we knew that once
people tried our coffee, they would love
it. All we had to do was make it available
in as many locations as we could for our
42 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Richard Jones
limited investment. We had limited pri-
vate funds to start the business and had
to run trials for 6 months to prove the
model. It took three years to get any third
party funding for our business”.
“Coffee Planet operates in many mar-
ket segments in order that the consumer
can drink our coffee at any time of the day
in any place where they are. We remain
the most innovative and best quality cof-
fee provider in the Middle East and our
awareness among consumers is growing
rapidly. We are the most geographically
widespread coffee brand in the UAE as we
are available in every corner of the coun-
try. We are starting to open up cafes in
traditional locations like shopping malls
and office towers but with a very unique
interior design feel – we call it a ‘coffee
bar’. It is a coffee shop revolution!” claims
Richard.
Two years ago, the company built its
own roastery facility in the UAE, which
according to Richards, was ‘to guarantee
the freshness of our coffee for all our cus-
tomers’. Today, it is the largest roaster of
specialty coffee in the Middle East. The
company says it is continuously seeking
new market channels and has a develop-
ment plan for retail; cafes in Dubai and
May 2010
Abu Dhabi for the next 5 years.
“We have taken more control over our
supply chain and reduced our cost base by
linking up directly with coffee growers in
different regions of the world to supply us
with the green coffee beans for us to roast.
We are also developing cashless vending
options for office and residential tower lo-
cations,” he says.
“We believe the Coffee Planet brand
has great potential for expansion into the
rest of the Middle East and Asia. We have
always emphasised that we are proud this
is a brand that was born in the UAE and
can be exported to others countries in the
region. Consumers know it well and trust it
to deliver a great coffee all of the time. So,
provided we find the right partners and the
right levels of investment and funding we
have a great chance to grow our sales and
brand awareness abroad,” Richard asserts.
The company already has a franchise
business, although it is in the early stages.
Coffee Planet now operates in Oman and
is currently running trials in Malaysia,
Pakistan, Jordan and Syria. “We are even
investigating a joint venture in the USA.
We believe choosing the right partner is
critical for success in new markets and so
to become a member of the Coffee Planet
family takes the right attitude as well as
money and desire for success. The response
in Oman has been fantastic and we expect
the roll out to continue into more conven-
ience store locations and a cafe site in the
next 6 months,” he says.
Richard says ADCB responded to the
company’s request for banking and finance
facilities nearly two years ago and since
then the two sides have developed a very
good relationship. “It is important that a
banking partner understands and has faith
in the business and that it provides all the
necessary facilities to allow the business to
flourish. We believe ADCB is such a bank.
By being responsive to our needs, by pro-
viding solutions that work for us at a cost
we can afford, the ADCB bank is helping to
project our business forward,” he said.
 SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES

‘Bank understands our vision’

In its own field, the company is at the forefront, says
Polimar MD

“R
elationships with
banks are like chil-
dren, once they are
born you must nur-
ture them,” says Ara Pierre Keusseyan,
Managing Director, Polimar Group,
while describing the role banks play in
helping businesses grow.
“Dubai Islamic Bank has contrib-
uted to our growth and shown us it un-
derstands our vision and stands ready
to support us,” he points out.
Polimar is a technical trading, spe-
cialty manufacturing and consulting
group of companies headquartered
in Sharjah. Founded in 1963, Polimar
was initially involved in the design and
fabrication of specialty metallic struc-
tures, and the supply and service of
equipment and machinery.
The company was founded by Ara’s
father, the late Pierre Keusseya, in
1963. “After finishing a temporary con-
tract with the company that employed
him to support with the completion of
a project for the British Army in Shar-
jah, my father went to say good bye to
his friend the late Sheikh Khalid Bin
Mohammad Al Qassimi, who suggest-
ed to him to stay on in the country as
the future was looking very promising.
Indeed despite the proverbial ups and
downs of the economy, the Emirates
has prospered under the wise leader-
ship of their highnesses the rulers,”
Ara Pierre said.
But the beginning seems to have
been tough, he said. “From the stories
I have heard from my father and from
situations I have lived as a child, it was
as tough as one should expect from any
new venture, especially when the econ-
omy is on the fast forward mode”.
Asked about the growth of the com-
pany, Ara said there is growth in size
and know-how and there is growth in
qualification. “The short and medium
term outlook should focus on the first
type of growth which is related to the
size of the market, the share the com-
pany can have of that market and the
enablers to acquire a competitive edge
over similar or competing businesses.
“The longer term outlook should
focus on the second type of growth as
“Dubai Islamic Bank has contributed to our
growth and shown us it understands our vision
and stands ready to support us”
this will enable the company to diver-
sify successfully in areas that will offer
growth opportunities in the early stag-
es of the lifecycle of that new business,”
he pointed out.
The managing director said that the
company operates in various automo-
tive specialty fields: technical trading
for refinish; business to business and
retail services for coachwork, body and
paint; precision mould and collectible
manufacturing as well as retailing for
motorsport enthusiasts.
“In the fields we operate in, the com-
pany’s standing is at the forefront”.
On possible expansion plans, he
said it depended on favourable mar-
ket conditions. “Every good company
should have plans to expand. However,
we believe that this should happen
only when the right opportunity and
conducive market conditions present
themselves”.  

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 43

 SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES
From electronic shop to
manufacturing group
Bank was a major support, says Sabah Group MD
B
eginning operations as a
trading store for electronic
products and home appli-
ances in 1970s, the Sabah
Group of companies today encom-
passes a number of activities, such
as manufacturing, construction and
steel fabrication, trading in automo-
bile spare parts and real estate.
The company was founded to-
gether by UAE national Mohammed
Ramadan Moosa Sajwani and Joseph
Kuttummel from India.
Now the group has a portfolio of
nine companies under it. Beginning
with trading activities, the company
started a manufacturing line with an
initial investment of Dh3 million for
the production of car radiators in the
year 2000, with initial sales of Dh3.5
million a year.
“Being a manufacturing company,
we faced a lot of problems during the
initial periods, particularly in the dis-
tribution of the product. But gradu-
ally, we started grabbing market share
and today the company’s sales exceed
44 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
“We have grown with Bank of Baroda and our
relationship of 33 years is a reflection of a
mutually satisfying business relationship”
Dh60 million,” says Joseph Kuttum-
mel, managing director.
“Our growth is multidimensional,
both in the number of units as well as
sales and today we are leaders in car
radiator sales and in a commanding
position,” Joseph said.
According to Joseph, the group
has been dealing with Bank of Bar-
oda for the past 33 years. “Bank of
Baroda has contributed significantly
to the growth of the company. We
have a total exposure of Dh70 mil-
lion and also a deposit relationship of
Dh30 million with the bank. Timely
approvals and proper financing as
per our requirements were the major
May 2010
support we received from the bank
and their products are suited to their
customers’ financial needs,” Joseph
pointed out.
Referring to the future plans of
the company, Joseph said the com-
pany has now started manufacture
of copper and brass car radiators
and the demand of the products is
increasing. The company has also es-
tablished a new aluminium radiator
project in SAIF Zone, Sharjah named
Sabah Radiator Industries.
“We have grown with Bank of Bar-
oda and our relationship of 33 years
is a reflection of a mutually satisfying
business relationship,” Joseph said.
 SME SPECIAL - C OMPANIES

On way to a billion-dirham company

Small garment trading company becomes top-leaguer
in scrap metal
F rom a modest beginning as a gar-
ment trading company operating
out of a small rented office and storage
facility in 1998, Pan Global Trading has
today grown into a major international
trading house, with its portfolio cover-
ing metals, foodstuff and garments.
The company initially started by im-
porting garments from countries like
India and selling it in Gulf and Africa.
Today, the company’s trading operations
span a large number of destinations
such as China, Singapore, Vietnam,
India, Pakistan, Morocco, Mauritania,
Senegal, Togo, Liberia, Kuwait, Bahrain,
Oman, South Africa, the US etc.
With the expansion and diversifica-
tion of trade, the company’s turnover
kept increasing manifold.
“Till the year 2003, our company re-
Kapur says the company’s vision now
is to increase the turnover to a billion
dirhams in the next couple of years.
corded steady but modest growth and Anil Kapur says SBI has helped the
the turnover used to be in the range company by providing enhanced credit
of Dh40 million. But with the expan- facilities as result of which the company
sion of operations, the current turnover could further increase the turnover. “We
is about Dh525 million. We are now find SBI quite helpful and sensitive to
among the largest exporters of metal our needs and requirements. We look
scrap (in containerized segment)”, says forward to a long and fruitful relation-
Managing Director Anil Kapur. ship with the bank,” he said.
“We find SBI quite helpful and sensitive to our
needs and requirements. We look forward to a
long and fruitful relationship with the bank”

Shrenuj: Reputed diamond brand

Company is among the leading manufacturers of
gems and jewellery
O ver a century old, Shrenuj is a
name to reckon with in the inter-
national diamond and jewellery trade. It
is a DTC sightholder company.
A sightholder is a company on the
Diamond Trading Company’s (DTC)
list of authorized bulk purchasers of
rough diamonds.
From its modest beginning in 1906,
the company today is among the lead-
ing manufacturers of gems and jewel-
lery and reputed brand in diamond in-
dustry. Shrenuj as a group has branches
in 14 countries, with a retail network in
Hong Kong and India.
Shrenuj DMCC, Dubai started its
operation in 2006 under the leadership
of Smit Kothari. He is promoter director
of Shrenuj DMCC and has been instru-
mental in setting up business operations
all over Middle East. In a short span of
four years, Shrenuj DMCC has achieved
sales of more than $60 million.
“State Bank of India (SBI) has been a
partner with Shrenuj for many decades.
We have enjoyed the best services in
India as well as overseas. We as Shrenuj
DMCC are proud to be pioneer client
of SBI, DIFC, Dubai and we really ap-
preciate the services provided by each
and every staff member of SBI, DIFC,
Dubai,” said Smit Kothari.
“We are witness to the success of SBI,
DIFC, in short span of their incorpora-
“We as Shrenuj DMCC are proud to be a pioneer
client of SBI, Dubai and we really appreciate the
services”
tion. The growth in such global financial
meltdown can be credited to long and
aggressive vision of CEO, AJ Vidyasagar,
and his team,” he said.
The company praised the bank man-
agement’s efforts to keep the branch op-
erational on all seven days a week to give
uninterrupted services to their customers
and cited this as an example of the hard
work and dedication of the staff.
“We are confident that we would see
new heights achieved by SBI Dubai in the
years to come and would love to be always
associated with them,” Kothari said.

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 45

 C OV
RE ALERESTATE
STORY

Dr JR Gangaramani

Passion for breakthrough

technologies
Man who oversaw construction of Dubai World Trade
Centre reminisces on a journey of mission
By K Raveendran

B Trade Centre is one of Dubai’s most eco-friendly

reakthrough technology, cut-
ting edge innovation and cre-
ativity are undoubtedly the buildings even today as the exterior of the
hallmarks of Burj Khalifa,
which is the new landmark on Dubai’s
tower is almost maintenance-free and the very
skyline. But the Dubai World Trade restricted use of glass on the building making it
Centre, which the world’s tallest tower
has replaced as the Dubai landmark, highly energy-efficient
had exactly the same attributes, says

46 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

(From left to right) Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid AL Maktoum,
Crown Prince of Dubai with Dr JR Gangaramani
the man who oversaw the construction
of Dubai’s most admired structure all
these years.
“The World Trade Centre was so
futuristic during its time that it had
set new benchmarks in architecture,
construction and engineering feats”,
says Dr JR Gangaramani, who was the
project engineer for the construction of
Dubai World Trade Centre. Ask him
about green technology, he would say
the Trade Centre is one of Dubai’s most
eco-friendly buildings even today.
The exterior of the tower is almost
maintenance-free and the very re-
stricted use of glass on the building
makes it highly energy-efficient. The
structure itself, though very elegant, is
most cost-effective as it is straight and
simple, compared to some of the ir-
regular and twisted shapes of buildings
of today, which add monstrous propor-
tions to construction costs. The Trade
Centre was built using precast, pre-
segmental, pre-stressed technology, a
first of its kind in the Gulf in its time
and the technology saved time, labour
and cost.
In fact, the biggest attraction for the
young Gangaramani to join the project
Sheikh Rashid, the then Ruler of Dubai, took
great interest in the construction of the
Trade Centre and visited the site almost daily,
sometimes making more than one round in a day
in 1974 was the challenge of work- “Suppose he suggested a change to
ing on the tallest ‘hi-tech’ building in the way something was being planned,
the Middle East and a sign of things he would make a second visit later in the
to come. He had just landed in Dubai, day to see how the change was shaping
armed with an Indian engineering de- up. Whether it was construction, engi-
gree and three years of work experience neering or anything else, Sheikh Rashid
back home. But it was a great time to insisted on bringing the latest technolo-
arrive as the UAE federation had been gies to Dubai”.
founded just three years prior to that Sheikh Rashid was also very con-
and the country had just commenced scious about costs and insisted that
its programme of accelerated develop- the work be done within the allocated
ment and transformation under the vi- budget. For instance, the number of
sion of the late President Sheikh Zayed apartments in the residential build-
Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. ings adjacent to the Trade Centre was
Gangaramani recalls his experienc- reduced by a few units so that the total
es of interacting with the late Sheikh cost remained within the originally al-
Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the then located budget, he pointed out.
Ruler of Dubai, who took great interest Gangaramani is the proud owner of
in the construction of the project and a personal collection of photos of the
visited the site almost daily, sometimes World Trade Centre site complex, track-
making more than one round in a day. ing its progress through various stages,
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 47

Dr JR Gangaramani with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s representative,
Abu Dhabi and Deputy Chairman, Abu Dhabi Executive Council
including some of the earthwork for
the construction.
Once the Trade Centre got complet-
ed, Gangaramani was in search of other
challenging responsibilities, which took
him to Al Ain, where he was appointed
to take charge of the Al Ain Flyover
project. This was another project that
saw the use of breakthrough technolo-
gies. He says that Al Ain, characterised
by vast spaces, the greenery and water
of the oasis as well as the warmth of
the residents, connected well with his
disposition, which prompted him to
set up home there. It was here that he
set up his own construction company
Al Fara’a in 1980, first partnering with
the company that originally employed
him and later buying out the business
in full from them.
Gangaramani says that as an un-
known entrepreneur who enjoyed a
good rapport with the community,
he set out to craft his life mission as ‘a
conduit of knowledge, resources, state
of the art technology and investment
into the country’. Soon Al Fara’a was
managing around 12 projects. Unlike
most entrepreneurial ‘breakthroughs’,
where one large achievement takes one
48 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
on to the road of success, Al Fara’a was
getting a ‘barrage of breakthroughs’.
Nearly 30 years on, Al Fara’a now
employs 18,000 people and has a pres-
ence in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and
Sharjah, apart from its international
footprint. The Al Fara’a Integrated Con-
struction Group today spans property
development, construction and related
services as well as manufacturing and
fabrication industries across the GCC
and Asia.
Al Fara’a Properties, which has
launched five projects ranging from
commercial to residential in a Dh10-
billion property portfolio, lat year com-
pleted the handover of its pilot project,
Le Grand Chateau in Jumeirah Village,
Dubai, six months ahead of schedule.
The project was also awarded best devel-
opment recognition by CNBC Arabia.
Al Fara’a General Contracting, li-
censed as a Special Grade Company
Gangaramani set out to craft his life mission as
‘a conduit of knowledge, resources, state of the
art technology and investment into the country’
May 2010
by the UAE Government, has achieved
a track record spanning multiple typed
of projects of different magnitudes. The
construction and related services seg-
ment of the Al Fara’a Group includes an
investment arm, mechanical, electrical
and plumbing supply and services (Al
Sabbah Electro-Mechanical), exterior
and interior finishing as and even precast
and steel structures.
In terms of manufacturing and fab-
rication, Belgium Aluminium and Glass
employs cutting edge technology in its
factories, that combined are arguable the
largest of their kind in the UAE. Unibe-
ton Ready Mix, backed by world class
leading technology manufactures and
optimises ready mix concrete to suit any
requirement and is the leading concrete
manufacturer in the Gulf.
The Dh3.5 billion turnover group
prides itself on its remarkable results in
the realm of rewarding career growth
and the personal development of its em-
ployees with a wide scope of training,
recreational and developmental activi-
ties spanning multiple disciplines. The
Group has also prioritised corporate so-
cial responsibility investment with the
formation of its Al Fara’a Foundation
that focuses on delivering sustainable
long term solutions to meet the needs of
its stakeholders.
Gangaramani says he has adopted a
five pillar approach to his philanthropic
efforts. These pillars are care (helping
vulnerable communities through com-
munity service), empowerment (devel-
oping communities and networks to
facilitate optimal growth by means of
education and development), growth
(contributing to the sustainable econom-
ic advancement of our communities via
entrepreneurial successes), challenge (in-
spiring community members to progres-
sively reach for new heights with various
sporting, educational and recreational
sponsorships) and nurture (enabling
communities to flourish through a last-
ing environmental focus).
 Top honours from President of India
The President of India recently conferred a second
award in one year on Al Fara’a Group frounder Dr JR
Gangaramani in recognition of his community invest-
ment, business achievements and his role in improved
UAE-India relations. He is only the fifth UAE resident
and the sixth person in GCC to receive this honour.
The President’s award, named Padma Shri, has been
bestowed on Dr Gangaramani in recognition for his
social work and business achievements. The prestigious
Padma Shri Award, which was first conferred in 1954,
is a civilian award given to an Indian for outstanding
contribution or achievement in a chosen field. Catego-
ries include, among others, Business Excellence, Public
Life and Social Service. Nominations to the award are
made by State Governments, Union Territory adminis-
trations, ministries and other governmental bodies.
Dr Gangaramani’s Al Fara’a Integrated Construc-
tion Group is a conglomerate of 10 construction
related companies that collectively employ 18,000
people.
Last year in January, Dr Gangaramani was be-
stowed the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, which
is given to notable persons of Indian origin outside of
India, by the President of India.
Humbled by the appreciation of his achieve-
ments in the realm of entrepreneurial success, role
in strengthening Indo-UAE ties and his efforts at
caring for the communities in which he operates, Dr
Gangaramani thanked the Rulers of the UAE for their
economic wisdom in creating an environment condu-
cive to realising one’s dreams and further reiterated
his commitment to serving the people of the UAE.
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 49
 C OVALTH
WE ER STORY
Private banking
after the perfect
storm
Wealth management industry loses 25 to 30% of
revenue since the outbreak of financial crisis
By Peter Vayanos & Dr Daniel Diemers
P
rivate banks have spent the
last 18 months dealing with
one of the most difficult pe-
riods in modern financial
history. A ‘perfect storm’ of asset-price
declines and the near or actual col-
lapse of some of the best-known wealth
management firms has altered the be-
haviour of clients, prompting them to
move into less risky financial instru-
ments that are much less profitable for
the banks. All of this has pushed rev-
enue levels down by 25 to 30 per cent.
As an added challenge, governments
are cracking down on their wealthy
citizens’ untaxed offshore accounts,
forcing many private banks to find new
value propositions.
An industry in transition
Over the last few months, Booz &
Company has taken a closer look at the
world’s leading wealth management
markets by conducting in-depth in-
terviews with more than 140 bankers,
advisors, and regulators in 15 markets
around the world, to understand the
core drivers of private banking, while
forming a perspective on the new rules
of the industry and what it means for
private bankers to adapt to the new re-
alities ‘after the storm’
While the financial crisis has jolted
the private banking industry, three
fundamental characteristics of the in-
dustry remain intact:
50 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
1. Fundamentally geared for growth
While world wealth generally expands
at the rate of GDP growth, the number
of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs),
defined as people with more than US$1
million in investable assets, has been
growing at anywhere from 1.5 to three
times the rate of GDP. The increase in
HNWIs is creating substantial wealth.
The financial crisis of 2008 took its toll
on HNWIs as massive devaluations hit
all major asset categories and geogra-
phies.
2. Cyclical in nature
There is no question that the revenue of
private banks is highly correlated with
the performance of equity markets. This
cyclicality is no surprise; revenue in pri-
vate banking depends heavily on trans-
action volumes and asset-based fees. As
a change appears unlikely for the in-
dustry’s revenue-generating model, this
correlation likely will hold. For the near
term, that means the industry’s revenues
will depend on the extent to which the
markets can continue the rally they
started in March 2009.
Private banks have continued to deliver profits
and many banks are starting to move strongly
into emerging markets, especially in places like
Asia and India
May 2010
3. Profitable even in difficult times
Since the beginning of this financial
crisis, the wealth management industry
has lost 25 to 30 per cent of its revenue
because of a lower asset base, cautious
market behaviour, and a shift toward
low-margin financial products. Yet
more than 95 per cent of private banks
analysed worldwide were able to deliver
positive pretax profits during this peri-
od. Private banks’ persistent profitabil-
ity is a reflection of the speed at which
they can adjust their operating models
to align them with current business
conditions.
Change levers
While the underlying dynamics are
fundamentally promising for private
banks, the industry must navigate
through a number of significant chang-
es going forward:
1. Tectonic shift in global wealth dis-
tribution
While the majority of industrialised
countries are just beginning to recover
 Private banks have continued to deliver profits
and many banks are starting to move strongly
into emerging markets, especially in places like
Asia and India
from the financial crisis, most emerg-
ing markets have already returned to
pre-crisis growth rates. We believe that
these varying rates of recovery will
persist for the next few years, shifting
the global wealth concentration to the
East.
Latin America: Prior to the cri-
sis, private banking in Latin America
was experiencing double-digit annual
growth, with clients increasingly de-
manding onshore/offshore conver-
gence and open architectures, which
provide clients with access to best-of-
breed products from top suppliers in
each asset class. Though 2009 was chal-
lenging in the region, Latin America’s
immediate future looks brighter as its
equity markets pick up, creating wealth
through IPOs and M&A transactions.
Middle East and Africa: Countries
rich in natural resources will likely
return to accelerated wealth creation
even before the global economy fully
recovers. Large government-led infra-
structure projects will further boost
the regional economies and many
HNW and UHNW clients will benefit
either directly or indirectly from these
projects.
Asia/Pacific: Led by China and
India, the Asia/Pacific region will be
where most new HNWIs will be creat-
ed, driven by the strength of the under-
lying economies and a strong entrepre-
neurial spirit. By the end of 2011, nearly
3.6 million HNWIs are expected to live
in the Asia/Pacific region, up from 2.57
million in 2008.
Europe: GDP growth rates for key
European markets are expected to re-
main flat for the next few years. A sig-
nificant shift of assets among European
countries is likely, due to the new regu-
latory regimes.
North America: North America
continues to hold a significant share of
the world’s HNWIs and UHNWIs (ul-
tra-high-net-worth individuals). Slow
growth in productivity and in North
America’s economies is expected over
the short to medium term, limiting the
overall growth in asset markets and in
the number of wealthy households.
Many emerging-market countries
are also expected to become more po-
litically stable and thus offer good in-
vestment opportunities. This will cre-
ate another disincentive to bring the
new wealth offshore.
2. The end of the tax-induced offshore
business model
While the offshore business has tra-
ditionally been an essential part of
private banking, it has recently come
under increasing scrutiny, especially
due to widespread perceptions that it
enables tax evasion. In tandem with the
recent G20 decision to crack down on
tax havens, offshore locations are in-
creasingly implementing standards of
cooperation on tax evasion and soften-
ing their strict banking secrecy rules..
This change will presumably accelerate
the crisis-induced fundamental chang-
es in the competitive landscape and
will affect especially private banking in
traditional offshore locations.
3. More pragmatism in client behav-
iour
Client behaviour changed during the
crisis. The changes have come in phases
and have created significant challenges
for private banks. The first phase came
after the market collapsed and clients
lost money in late 2008 and early 2009.
In the wake of this implosion, clients
shifted their assets toward simple,
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
transparent, liquidity-oriented prod-
ucts with lower margins. Structured
products in particular fell from favour,
and clients largely retreated from risky
and complex asset classes. A main cause
of this behaviour was the reduced trust
that clients had in banks, products,
and relationship managers—a problem
worsened by the fact that relationship
managers, in turn, did not trust their
own product providers anymore. The
result is that clients have become more
hesitant to delegate and have shifted as-
sets from managed portfolios to nondis-
cretionary and self-directed mandates.
4. Pressure on costs will endure
Most private banks have responded to
diminishing revenue pools by remov-
ing costs from their operations in a va-
riety of ways. Although the rebound in
financial markets since March 2009 has
helped private banks to stabilise their
top lines, profitability will remain un-
der pressure for several reasons:
• Transaction volumes during the re-
cent market recovery have stayed
quite low, and asset allocation re-
mains biased toward low risk asset
classes.
• Clients have become wary of com-
plex, non transparent or expensive
products.
• Many clients have shifted assets from
managed accounts to self directed
mandates, lowering the profitability
of their accounts.
• The relatively high-margin offshore
assets will gradually transform into
local onshore assets, at far lower
price points.
• Compliance requirements and the
need to cope with operational and
reputational risks will increase the
cost of doing business.
May 2010 51

5. New business models taking shape
There is a distinct sense that open
product architecture solutions will pre-
dominate in the future, with clients de-
manding access to best-of-breed prod-
ucts from top suppliers in each asset
class. The integrated operating model
served clients poorly in the financial
crisis, eliminating the possibility of an
objective intermediary and increasing
the moral hazard of selling the struc-
tured products that were profitable for
the banks but risky for clients. In the
wake of that trust-shattering period,
private banks need to further demon-
strate their expertise in the areas of
risk profiling, asset allocation, product
selection, and due diligence. This also
means that the model of the integrated
bank will be more closely scrutinised
than in the past.
The new imperative for
success
While long-term prospects for the pri-
vate banking industry are distinctly
positive, private banks need to adapt
their business models to the new reali-
ties:
1. Seriously commit to emerging mar-
kets
The expansion and evolving behaviour
of the HNWI population in China, In-
dia, and the Middle East will require
private banks to operate in new ways
in these markets. Wealth management
players with global ambitions need an
emerging market strategy to capture
the large wealth expected to be gen-
erated in these regions in the coming
years. They will also need to acquire or
develop a deep understanding of, and
access to, local investment opportuni-
ties as new wealth is increasingly in-
vested locally.
2. Become a declared multi-shoring
player
The tax-neutral, offshore private bank-
ing proposition of many domiciles
will not survive the current regulatory
pressure and offshore clients are likely
to withdraw part of their funds and in-
crease local investments. Private banks
52 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
will have to proactively approach and
support offshore clients whose gov-
ernments are applying pressure on
tax-optimised accounts. The goal is to
serve as a truly trusted advisor and ho-
listic wealth manager, helping clients
repatriate their money and shift assets
to onshore locations, thereby keeping
assets within the bank, even if at sig-
nificantly reduced margins.
In the future, private banks will
need to ensure full cross-border com-
pliance and prepare for a time when
pure offshore banking may be attrac-
tive only for selected domiciles. This
requires banks to understand and
closely monitor the regulatory envi-
ronments in all markets in which they
participate to enable them to react
quickly and appropriately to regula-
tory changes in countries where they
have clients. Offshore private banking
will continue but will offer different
value propositions. Smaller banks, as
well as most subsidiaries of interna-
tional banks will not be able to expand
their onshore footprint and build the
required level of capabilities, and these
will likely become acquisition targets.
3. Develop new client service models
The financial turmoil of the last few
years has clearly changed how clients
feel about their banking relationships.
Clients are looking for consistent, reli-
able, and unbiased advice with a focus
on what is right for them rather than
what is right for their banker. The client
service models of the future will have
two main parts. First, clients will need
to be segmented according to their true
needs. Qualitative segmentations will
become increasingly important in the
future—they will put wealth managers
in a better position to consider all cli-
ent requirements, emotional as well as
financial. The second change involves
client coverage models. Leading private
banks have started to adopt new client
Most private banks have responded to
diminishing revenue pools by removing costs
from their operations in a variety of ways
May 2010
coverage models in which relationship
managers focus on a limited number
of client segments (in some cases, just
one), as opposed to heterogeneous cli-
ent portfolios in which the clients have
diverse needs and backgrounds and are
located in a wide range of domiciles.
4. Learn to make money (again)
With revenue pools likely to remain de-
pressed for the immediate future, and
with higher compliance costs, wealth
managers need to learn—or relearn—
how to earn money. Three areas will be
key: First, banks must use rebates and
fee discounts more sparingly. Second,
they must optimise the product/ serv-
ice mix for each client. Third, they must
adopt a disciplined approach to cost
management. Top banks have already
started to use advanced client profit-
ability steering tools, which show the
level of the economic profit by client, to
fully understand where value is either
created or destroyed.
5. Build scale, build capabilities
There are several factors causing M&A
to intensify in private banking includ-
ing the push to separate distribution,
production, and operations. A second
factor is the need to quickly build scale
in new markets, where indigenous com-
panies are rapidly adding capabilities
and gaining momentum. A third fac-
tor driving M&A is the desire to add
revenue at a time when revenue pools
are depressed. A fourth factor is that
regulatory pressure has left some banks
without a viable business model. To-
gether, these factors have led to a burst
of deals in the last year which are ex-
pected to continue, making the wealth
management industry very attractive
for players with a well-defined M&A
strategy. We also expect to see more al-
liances and cooperative deals in which
traditional private bankers try to ex-
pand the scope of their business.

IPO activity pick-up
Five-fold increase in funds raised, compared to same
quarter last year
I
nitial Public Offering (IPO) activ-
ity in the Middle East has risen
significantly in the first quarter of
2010, recording a fivefold increase
in the funds raised.
Ernst & Young’s Middle East IPO
Update for the first quarter says over
$420.5 million was raised from six
IPOs, compared to $83.6 million in the
same period last year.
According to Phil Gandier, Head
of Transaction Advisory Services for
Ernst & Young Middle East, the trend
mirrors the performance of the global
IPO markets in the first quarer. The re-
gional upturn in number and size was
largely based on the performance of the
Saudi and Qatari markets. The regional
markets also performed better than
the last quarter, by raising $91.6 mil-
lion in the fourth quarter of last year
from 5 IPOs. “While it is too early to
decree that markets have rebounded,
this could potentially signal the return
of normalcy to the markets, which had
a very difficult 2009,” he says.
Saudi Arabia
still robust
Five IPOs in Saudi Arabia and one in
Qatar made up the geographical com-
position of the regional IPO market for
the first quarter. Mazaya Qatar Real Es-
tate Development
Company with an offer size of $144.2
million was the Middle East’s largest
IPO, followed by Saudi Arabia’s Herfy
Food Services ($110.2 million and
Alsorayai Trading Industrial Group
($64.8 million). Solidarity Saudi Taka-
ful, Amana for Cooperative Insurance
and Wataniya Cooperative Insurance
were the other three with offer sizes of
$59.2 million, $34.1 million and $8 mil-
lion respectively. Saudi Arabia also led
the IPO tally in the previous quarter
–three out of the 5 Middle East IPOs
were in the Kingdom.
Phil says market appetite and inves-
tor confidence are cautiously picking
up. The largest oversubscription in the
first quarter was by Herfy Food Serv-
ices at 4.6 times offer size. This could be
symptomatic of the caution with which
new IPOs will be greeted in 2010, he
points out. “We may not see the hun-
dreds or even tenfold oversubscription
that were witnessed during the boom
years. Firms will need to invest more
time and resources in preparing their
institution for an IPO and ensuring
they have a compelling equity story.
While challenging markets will come
and go, it’s the companies that are
fully prepared that will best be able to
leverage IPO opportunities when they
open.”
Out of the total 6 IPOs this quarter,
three were in the insurance/Takaful
sectors. This trend was also observed in
the previous quarter, when the regional
markets went through a difficult phase.
In Q4 2009, three out of 5 IPOs were
for insurance firms. “Insurance licens-
ing procedures in Saudi Arabia, which
While challenging markets will come and go, it’s
the companies that are fully prepared that will
best be able to leverage IPO opportunities when
they open
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
MARKE T S
opened up the sector to new entrants in
2005, oblige newly licensed firms to of-
fer a percentage of their shares to the
public within a set timeframe. This is
why we see a disproportionate number
of IPOs in the Kingdom’s insurance/
Takaful sector,” Phil explains.
The global IPO activity in the first
quarter of 2010 also showed substantial
improvement over the same period last
year. Results were driven by an ongoing
robust Asian market and the revival of
European listings. There were 267 deals
globally in Q1 2010 worth $53.2 billion,
compared to the 52 deals which raised
$1.4 billion in Q1’09 (which had the low-
est IPO activity in the past decade). Asia
continued to experience significant IPO
activity in the quarter, with 166 IPOs
raising $35.1 billion, 66 per cent of the
quarter’s total IPO fund raising. Nine
of the 20 largest IPOs were from Asia
(China, Japan and South Korea).
“Emerging market activity continues
to be strong, but we also saw a revival of
activity in Q1 2010 in key markets such
as Tokyo, London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Despite concerns about volatile mar-
ket conditions at the beginning of this
quarter, we expect that investors will
continue to return to the European and
North American markets as the global
economy improves,” said Gregory K.
Ericksen, Global Vice Chair for Strate-
gic Growth Markets for Ernst & Young.
May 2010 53
 C OV ER STORY
CREDIT R ATING
GCC Credit Rating Scale
Robert E Richards of Standard & Poor’s explains process
S
tandard & Poor’s Ratings
Services has introduced a new
credit ratings scale, known as
the GCC regional ratings scale
(GCC scale), for the assignment of
credit ratings on issuers domiciled in
GCC countries or that issue local cur-
rency debt in the GCC.
The GCC scale serves issuers, coun-
terparties, intermediaries, investors,
and insurers involved in GCC’s finan-
cial markets by providing independent
opinions of relative creditworthiness
54 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
for GCC-related issuers and issuances.
The GCC regional rating scale is de-
signed for issuers based in the GCC
region and for capital markets debt,
bank loans, and shariah-compliant
obligations issued in GCC curren-
cies by entities within and beyond the
GCC, the rating agency says.
The GCC regional scale, while
based on issuers and issuances in the
GCC region, is designed to comple-
ment the existing global rating scale
and may offer finer credit risk differen-
May 2010
tiation within the region, says Robert
E Richards, criteria officer at Standard
& Poor’s.
The GCC scale is the second re-
gional ratings scale that Standard &
Poor’s has offered, joining the ASEAN
regional rating scale, which was intro-
duced in May 2009. Robert answers
questions on the rating process.
Q: How will a GCC regional scale rat-
ing appear and what are its charac-
teristics?
A: GCC scale ratings will feature the
identifying prefix gc. The GCC scale
features both long- and short-term
ratings. The highest long-term rating
is ‘gcAAA’ and the highest short-term
rating is ‘gcA-1+’. GCC scale ratings
have their own respective rating defi-
nitions, which can be found on Rat-
ingsDirect under the Criteria tab or
Standard & Poor’s website.
Q: What are the differences between
a global scale rating and a GCC scale
rating?
A: The primary difference is one of
scope. GCC scale ratings are designed
to facilitate credit-risk comparisons
among GCC-related issuers and is-
suances. By contrast, a global scale
rating is based on credit-risk compar-
isons among issuers and issuances lo-
cated all over the world. A GCC scale
rating may allow for finer credit risk
differentiation between some regional
issuers and issuances.
Q: Are the criteria for assigning
GCC scale ratings different from
those used to arrive at global scale
ratings?
A: No. The criteria used to analyze
business risk, financial risk, and other
elements of credit risk are the same
for both regional and global scale rat-
ings.
Q: Can an issuer be assigned both
GCC scale and global scale ratings?
A: Yes. Both GCC scale and global
scale ratings can be assigned to issuers
and issues, although the GCC scale is
designed to facilitate comparisons of
GCC issuers and GCC currency-de-
nominated debt issues distributed in
GCC member states.
Q: Are GCC regional ratings com-
parable to other Standard & Poor’s
regional scale ratings?
A: No. Each regional rating scale and
national rating scale is particular to
the relevant regional or national mar-
ket and addresses the credit risk envi-
ronment there.
Q: Who might find GCC regional
ratings useful?
A: GCC regional ratings may be use-
ful to issuers, counterparties, inter-
mediaries, investors, and insurers
seeking credit ratings on GCC issuers
and issuances relative to other issu-
ers and issuances within the region.
GCC regional ratings might be used
for traditional capital markets debt
and bank loans, as well as for shariah-
compliant obligations.
Q: Why are GCC scale ratings and
the GCC scale being offered?
A: The GCC and its member countries
are taking steps to develop their lo-
cal and regional capital markets. The
proposed GCC Monetary Union and
the development of a regional yield
curve based on increased sovereign
issuances are examples of this devel-
opment. GCC regional ratings and the
GCC scale may provide a helpful basis
of comparison for credits affected by
these and other measures, and could
encourage broader regional market
participation.
GCC regional ratings are designed
to serve as an independent benchmark
and information tool for investors.
They, and the GCC scale, may provide
a complementary tool for rating local
or regional currency issuance along-
side the global ratings used for rat-
ing non-GCC currency denominated
issuers and issuances. GCC regional
ratings and the GCC scale are de-
signed to meet the needs of investors
participating in national or regional
GCC capital markets by providing
finer distinctions of credit quality. In-
vestors may use GCC regional ratings
and the GCC scale to compare and
contrast the relative creditworthiness
of issuers and issuances in the GCC.
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW
Q: Does Standard & Poor’s have re-
gional or national scales in other
parts of the world?
A: The GCC scale joins the ASEAN
scale as Standard & Poor’s second re-
gional scale. Standard & Poor’s has
also established national rating scales
in various capital markets, including
those of Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Bra-
zil, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Africa,
and Turkey. We also provide short-
term ratings on our Nordic scale for the
Swedish commercial paper market.
Q: How does Standard & Poor’s
treat country risk in GCC regional
ratings?
A: Country risk results from the desta-
bilizing effect of certain macroeco-
nomic and other factors on the com-
mercial activity of a country and can
disrupt the full and timely payment of
obligations sourced in that country.
Standard & Poor’s analyzes country
risk in assigning its global and regional
scale ratings.
The rated debt’s currency of repay-
ment is a key analytical factor. An ob-
ligor’s capacity to repay its foreign cur-
rency obligations may be lower than its
capacity to repay obligations in its local
currency because the sovereign may
restrict access to foreign exchange.
Q: Will Standard & Poor’s assign an
issuer a regional rating above that of
its sovereign?
A: As with Standard & Poor’s global
scale, unless the relevant sovereign
has the highest possible rating on the
regional scale, it is possible for cer-
tain issuers domiciled there to obtain
a higher regional rating than that of
the sovereign. If the sovereign has the
highest possible rating on the GCC
scale, that is, ‘gcAAA’ for long-term
debt or ‘gcA-1+’ for short-term debt, it
is not possible for a non-sovereign is-
suer to have a higher GCC regional rat-
ing than that sovereign.
May 2010 55
 TECHNOLOGY

TV becomes more Sharp with yellow

S
harp has added yellow to the
traditional red, green and blue
palette to create a new televi-
sion that is capable of produc-
ing stunning colour pictures. The
company has just launched a series of
television sets with the revolutionary
Quattron quad pixel technology in the
GCC market.
Masahiro Yokota, Sharp’s Divi-
sional General Manager, LCD Digital
System Division, Audio Video System
Group, says the proprietary Quat-
tron technology will revolutionise the
TV industry because it will influence
the way in which people would like
to watch television. “The innovative
Quattron technology promises the
next level of growth for Sharp, as part
Masahiro Yokota, Divisional General Manager, LCD Digital Systems Division,
of the company’s aggressive global Audio Visuals Systems Group Sharp Corporation, at the Dubai launch
strategy to take on the leadership posi-
tion in LCD TV technology,’’ he says. but the ushering in of a new era in TV the region is expected to grow to over
The new Quattron LE-820 series technology because it introduces a 3.5 million units, of which Sharp plans
featuring Quad Pixel technology comes fourth colour sub-pixel to the conven- to achieve at least 10 per cent market
in 52, 46 and 40-inch sizes, and they tional LCD three-colour palette. share, according to Manu Mahdi, Gen-
all have Sharp’s UltraBrilliant Edge-lit This new four-colour technology eral Manager, Sharp UAE.
LED technology as standard. enables billions of colours to be dis- With the launch of this AQUOS
The sets are just 39mm deep, and played, and brings to TV a range of range equipped with Quattron tech-
the panel glass on the LE820 series never before seen colours – dazzling nology and other innovative TV prod-
extends to meet the edge of the TV golds, tropical ocean blues, and sun- ucts, Sharp officials are forecasting a
for a more seamless look. The X-Gen flower yellows, to name a few, he said. 30 per cent growth in sales this year
LCD panel with UV2A technology “This is a fantastic distinction that for this region.
has unique photo-alignment precisely will shape consumer standards for
controls the alignment of the liquid LCDs. Along with their pioneering
crystal molecules, while minimiz- colour reproduction; these new Quat-
ing light leakage, to reproduce amaz- tron models feature an energy-efficient
ingly bright whites and extremely deep LED backlight and décor-enhancing
blacks. The mercury-free LED back- style. The technology also uses smaller
lighting reduces energy consumption dots to make up images, enabling ul-
over that of conventional fluorescent- tra-high resolution”.
backlit LCDs, and every set has an eco Sharp feels that the new range of
picture control. LED TVs will help the company boost
According to Fred Yamaguchi, its share in the Middle East & Africa
Managing Director, Sharp Middle market and help it realize the objec-
East, the new technology is not just a tive of taking market leadership in the
step forward in the company’s vision, LED TV segment. The LCD market in

56 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

 Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Buhaira 06-5566169 02-6109731
Fujairah 09-2223900 09-2224900
Head Office: Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah 07-2332200 07-2332020
Al Salam Street, P.O. Box 939 Tel: 02 6962222 Fax: 02 6450384 Dibba 09-2446444 09-2444838
Website : www.adcb.com Ajman 06-7443444 06-7443300
Branch Name Phone Number Fax Number
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AD MALL KIOSK 02-6443825 NA H.E. Eissa Al Suwaidi Chairman
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Area Office-MB 03-7558888 02-6109775 Simon Copleston General Counsel
Main Branch 03-7550000 02-6109775 Howard Gaunt Head - Business Banking Group
Khalifa St. Branch 03-7669999 02-6109739 Mike Cunningham Head - Strategic Programmes
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Al Ruwais 02-8775015 02-8774704 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Al Baya 02-8721300 02-8728124
Gayathi 02-8742155 02-8741626 Head Office: Abu Dhabi
Zayed Town 02-8846180 02-8847663 Najda Street, P.O. Box 313, Abu Dhabi UAE Tel 02 6343000
Mall of the Emirates 04-3411001 02-6109732 Email: customerservice@adib.ae Fax 02 6342222
Arabian centre 04-7058806 02-6109849 Website : www.e-adib.com
Dubai Mall 04-7058820 02-6109850
Al Qusais 04-7058888 02-6109813 Established on 20th May 1997 as a Public Joint Stock Company through the
Jumeirah 04-4069601 02-6109749 Amiri Decree No. 9 of 1997. The bank commenced commercial operations on 11th
Ittihad 04-3615151 02-6109735 November 1998, and was formally inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Abdulla Bin
Al Karama 04-3345000 04-3348000 Zayed Ak Nahyan, UAE Minister of Information and Culture on 18th April 1999. All
Al Mina Road 04-3984444 04-3982664 contracts, operations and transactions are carried out in accordance with Islamic
Al Riggah 04-2958888 04-2956632 Shari’a principles.
Deira 04-6024100 02-6109790
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BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 57

 P.O. Box 1049, Dubai Fax: 04 3937774
Aref Ismail Al Khouri Manager
Swift ARAIAEAD, E-mail: aaibdxb@emirates.net.ae
Mushref 02 4455177
Web: www.aaib.com
Ezzeldin Nagdy Manager
History: Established 1964 as the first Arab joint venture bank
Madinat Zayed 02 6100821
Hemant Jethwani General Manager UAE
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Dubai Branch: Key Executive
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Abu Dhabi Tel: 02 6323400; Fax: 02-6216009
Sheikha Al Suwaidi Manager
Arab Monetary Fund Bldg, Corniche Street, P.O. Box 928, Abu Dhabi
Khalifa Street 02 6100590
Key Executive
Omar Aqel Manager
Hani Hassan Branch Manager
Al Ain
Sinaiya 03 7211777 Arab Bank
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Clock Tower Branch 03 7076444 Head Office Jordan – Amman Tel: 04 2950845; Fax: 04 2024369
Ali Abdullah Al Manager P.O.Box 950544, 950545
Dhaheri Amman 11195
Al Jimi Mall Branch 03 7633500 Website: www.arabbank.ae
Ahmed Abdullah Manager History: The Arab Bank Group is one of the principal financial institutions in the
Al Boloshi Arab world and ranks among the leading international banks in terms of equity,
earnings and assets. Established in 1930 in Jerusalem. The Arab Bank Group is
Dubai
owned by about 4,000 shareholders from all over the world, mainly Arab countires.
Al Twar 04 2611116
The Group has a diversified network of over 350 branches worldwide.
Ibrahim Alqasser Manager
Abdul Majeed Shoman Chairman
Opposite Deira City Center 04 3973333
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Mohammad A . Azab Senior Vice President - Dubai
Mohamed Hussein Zainal Manager 04 4033400
Saed Jarallah Senior Vice President – Abu Dhabi
Aladin Al-Khatib Treasury Head
Fujairah
Hatem Kurdieh Corporate Banking Head
Fujairah 09 2222711
Tareq HajHasan Retail Banking Head
Fahad Al Shaer Manager
Mohammad Mattar Central Operations Unit Manager
Dibba 02 6100920
Hani Hirzallah Regional Manager Human Resources /Gulf Region
Ali Mohammed Manager
Tareq Ibrahim Head of Human Resources
Ras Al Khaimah 07 2284448
Ammar Al Khayyat Financial Controllar
Saif Hamdan Alkeem Manager
Ghassan Nimer IT Center Regional Manager
Sharjah 06 5075100
Jihad Ghoury Legal Counsel
Ali Essa Alshaqoosh Manager
Sanjay Malhotra Global Head of Marketing & Product Develeopment
Nasser Maghtheh Senior Auditor
Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait - Dubai Anan Al Khatib Premises & Pruchasing Officer (Engineer)
Suleiman Malhas U.A.E Branches Audit Centre Manager
Head Office: Kuwait
Regional Head Office: Dubai Tel 04 2681118 Dubai Al Ittihad Street 04 2950845
Opposite Hamarain Centre, Deira Fax 04 2684445
P.O.Box 1719, Dubai, E-mail: infodubai@ahlibank.ae Mohammed Azab Branch Manager
Website: www.ahlibank.ae
Management & Senior Personnel: Deira 04 2221231
Vikram Pradhan General Manager, UAE Mohammed Elayyan Branch Manager
Vijay Shah Head of Trade Finance & Operations
Hiranand Motwani Manager Treasury Abu Dhabi Al Naser Street 02 6392225
Krishna Kumar Manager Retail Operations Nasser Serries Branch Manager

American Express Bank Ltd Al Ain 03 7641328

Colock Tower roundabout, Al Ain Street
Representative Office, Suite 509 Tel: 04 3975000; Fax: 04 3976986 Maen Jarrar Branch Manager
The Business Centre, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street, Bur Dubai Sharjah Al Arooba Street 06 5618999
P.O. Box 3304, Dubai. Maher Al Debis Branch Manager
Prabir A. Biswas Director & Chief Representative
Sumit.K.Roy Director-financial institution group Ajman 06 7422431
John A. Smetanka Head-wealth management-subcontinent and Rashid Bin Humaid Street
global NRI Modhar Kherfan Branch Manager

Ras Al Khaimah 07 2288437

Arab African International Bank
Oman Street, Al Nakheel
Ali Zatar Branch Manager
Head Office: Cairo, Egypt.
Regional Head Office Dubai Tel: 04 3937773
Fujairah Sheik Zayed Street 09 2222050
ART Tower, Al Mina Street, Opp. Ports & Customs Bldg., Bur Dubai

58 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

Abdel Hamid Qamhieyah Branch Manager Abu Dhabi Branch Tel: 02 6323400
Call Centre Within UAE 800 40 43 Fax: 02 6216009
Outside UAE 009714 2953889 Arab Monetary Fund Bldg., Corniche
Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade P.O Box 928, Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6721900 BLOM Bank France SA
Regional Head Office, Sh. Hamdan Street, Tourist Club Area Fax 02 6785271
P.O. Box 46733, Abu Dhabi Dubai Tel 04 2284655
Telex 22455 ARBIFT EM Al Maktoum Street, Deira Dubai, P.O. Box 4370 Fax 04 2236260
Email: arbiftho@emirates.net.ae email: info@blomfrance.ae
Website: www.arbift.com www: www.blombank.ae
History: Established in 1976 in Abu Dhabi Registered as a Puvlic Joint Stock Bassem Ariss Regional Manager 04 2222355
Company Samir Hobeika Branch Manager 04 2214648
Management & Personnel Michel Germanof Manager Corporate Credit UAE 04 2242067
Ibrahim N. R. Lootah General Manager 02 6952286 Mohammad M Ansari Treasurer 04 2224812
Hassan S. Kishko Head of Finance 02 6721299
M.A. Majid Siddiqui Head of HR & Admin 02 6728785 Sharjah
Khalid Mohammed Bin Amir Head of Operations 02 6776109
Najib Taleb Nasser Head of Commercial Banking PO Box 5803, Al Buheira Tower, Al Buheira Corniche Tel 06 5736100
Ahmed Majid Lootah Head of Retail Banking 02 6743801 Fax 06 5736080
M. Santosh Babu Senior Manager IT 02 6722975 Mokhtar Kassem Branch Manager
Izzeldin Al Siddiq Salem Mgr - Inspection & Internal Audit 02 6780592
Osman Hamid Suliman Mgr - Banking Relations Dept 02 6787380 Bank Muscat
Mir Asif Ali Mgr - Treasury Dept 02 6721600
Saidi Zoubir Head of Business Dev. Dept. 02 6723763 Dubai Representative Office
Tareq S’adi Al Darras Mgr - Credit Risk Management 02 6720886 Dubai Creek Tower, Baniyas Road, Deira Tel 04 2222267
Issam Abugisseisa Legal Advisor 02-6791642 P.O. Box 29969, Dubai Fax 04 2210115
Abu Dhabi Main, Sh. Hamdan Street 02 6721900 Lawrence P. Monteiro Chief Representative
Noora Ebrahim Manager -Sales & Services 02 6780423
Souk Branch 02 6269500
Al Masaood Building - Khalifa Street, Abu Dhabi
Nasser Rashed Al Ali Manager 02 6275087 BBK BSC

Al Ain 03 7655133 Dubai-Representative Office 04 2210560

Mohd. Sultan Al-Darmaki Bldg., 1st Floor, Old Passport Office Road.
Hussain Marzouqul Manager 03 7656482
Dubai 04 2220151
Arbift Tower, Baniyas Street, Deira
Adel Mohd. Khalfan Manager 04 2282071
Al Bagh Murad Ali Murad Chairman
Sharjah King Faisal Street 06 5744888
Fatima Al Muani Manager 06 5747766
Arab Banking Corporation
Abu Dhabi Office 02 6447666
Office, 10th Floor, Abu Dhabi Trade Centre, Abu Dhabi Mall
P.O.Box 6689, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6444429
Mohamed El Calamawy Chief Representative
Arab Emirates Investment Bank PJSC
Head Office: Cairo Egypt Tel: 04 3937773
Regional Office: Dubai Fax: 04 3937774
ART Tower, Al Mina Road, Opposite Maritime City, Bur Dubai
P.O Box 1049 Dubai
SWIFT: ARAIAEAD
E-mail: aaibdxb@eim.ae
Web: www.aaib.com
Management-UAE
Hemant Jethwani General Manager
Alaa Sobhy Head of Syndication and Asset Trade
Mahendran Raman Head of Operations and Liabilities
Dubai Creek Tower Office 18A, Baniyas Road, Deira
PO Box 31115 Tel 04 2210560 / 70
Fax 04 2210260
Website www.bbkonline.com
History: Established on 16th March, 1971
Karim Bucheery CEO & GM
Sh. Rashed Al Khalifa Deputy General Manager
Dubai ReP-Office: CK Jaidev
Head of Representative Office
Rajiv Kapoor Relationship Manager & Loan Syndications Wafa
Al-Alwan Relationship Manager & Loan Syndications
Bank of Baroda
Dubai
Zonal Office: Sheikh Rashid Bldg.
Ali Bin Abu Talib Street, Bur Dubai,
P.O.Box 3162, Dubai Tel: 04 3531628
E-mail: ce.gcc@bankofbaroda-uae.ae Fax: 04 3530839
UAE Website: www.bankofbarodauae.ae
History: Established in 1908, July 20
Nationalized on July 19, 1969
Zonal Office, Dubai
Ashok K. Gupta Chief Executive,
(GCC Operations) 04 3136699
Narayanan Devarao Dy. Chief Executive 04 3136617
Umarmiya S .Sayied Chief Manager (Credit) 04 3136690

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 59

Paramjeet S. Bhatia Chief Manager (Syndication) 04 3136647
Sujeet V. Bhale Chief Manager (Syndication) 04 3136692
P.K. Rout Senior Manager (HR & Admn.) 04 3136694
Retail Banking Dubai
H. S. Sagar Chief Manager (Retail / Marketing) 04 3136658
Renuka Shyam Senior Manager (Retail/Marketing) 04 3136603
Mehul Kumar Dave Senior Manager (Marketing) 0566195733
Shaibal Banerjee Manager (Marketing) 0566093201
Niermala Behera Manager (Marketing) 0558638983
K. Prabha Manager (Marketing) 0566253180
I.T. Dept.
Anil Kumar Agrawal Senior Manager (I.T.) 04 3136661
Hardeep Singh Senior Manager (I.T.) 04 3136663
Treasury
Dilip Kumar Mansingh Senior Manager (Dealer) 04 3136630
Shankar Kumar Jha Manager (Dealer) 04 3136631
Vikrant Gupta Manager (Dealer) 04 3136636
Dubai:
Sheikh Rashid Bldg, Ali Bin Abu Talib Street, Dubai
Bur Dubai 04 3136666
N Sundareswaran Asst.General Manager 04 3136616
M.V.Murali Krishna Chief Manager (Operations) 04 3136670
Sarat C.Baral Chief Manager (Credit) 04 3136610
Sunil Tutoo Senior Manager (India desk) 04 3136680
Lalitha Janakiraman Senior Manager (Trade Fin.) 04 3136620
Abu Dhabi
Al Halami Center, Sheikh Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi 02 6330244/6322000
N.K. Batra Asst. General Manager 02 6344302
H.T. Solanki Senior Manager (Credit) 02 6326364
Barun Meher Senior Manager (Operations) 02 6326364
Sunil Kumar Manager (Marketing) 0566092501
Sharjah
Al Mina Road, Al Maraijah , Near Sharjah Cinema, Sharjah 06 5684231/5686232
B.B. Pradhan Chief Manager 06 5683273
S.K. Tiwari Senior Manager (Operations) 06 5687086 Rida Higazi Deputy Branch Manager
Satya Narayan Patra Senior Manager 06 5684231
Sanjeev Singh Manager (Marketing) 0566093847
Shiv Kumar Shukla Manager (Marketing) 0566241586
Al Ain:
Clock Tower, Roundabout, Planning Street, Al Ain 03 7519880
Ashwini K Patria Senior Branch Manager 03 7659554
Akhilesh Vashistha Senior Manager (Operations) 0508591171
Deira:
Kuwaiti Bldg., Al Rigga, Baniyas Street, Deira 04 2287949
Ramesh M. Shetty Asst General Manager 04 2286516
Pamela Azaredo Chief Manager (Operations) 04 2286216
Satish Agarwal Chief Manager (Credit) 04 2292181
R K Madaan Manager (Marketing) 0559692170
S.S. Reddy Senior Manager (Marketing) 0501934096
Vipin Bhatt Manager (Marketing) 0566092869
Ras Al Khaimah
Al Qasimi Bldg, Oman Street, Al Nakheel 07 2229293
Surendra S. Parihar Senior Branch Manager 07 2229293
J.K.Jais Senior Manager (Operations) 07 2229293
K.S.Iyer Senior Manager (Credit) 07 2229293
60 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010
Bank of New York
Representative office Tel 02 6263008
Suite 402, The Blue Tower, Sh. Khalifa Bin Zayed Street Fax 02 6263308
P.O.Box 727, Abu Dhabi
Hani Kablawi Managing Director
Bank of Sharjah
Sharjah
Head Office – Al Hosn Avenue Tel 06 5694411
P.O. Box 1394, Sharjah Fax 06 5694422
E-mail: bankshj@emirates.net.ae
History: Established on 22nd December 1973 with Banque Paribas, Paris
Ahmed Abdulla Al Noman Chairman
Varouj Nerguizian General Manager
Mario Tohme Deputy General Manager
Fadi Ghosn Deputy General Manager
Ali Burheimah Commercial Manager
Mohammed Asghar Senior Operations Manager
Fares Saade Senior Manager
Michel Germanos Risk Manager
Jayakumar Menon Finance Manager
Berj Tossounian Credit Manager - Sharjah
Wahide Assaad    IT Manager
Jihad Aoun    Investment Manager
Samer Hamed    Audit & Control Manager
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6795555
Al Mina Street, P.O.Box 27391 Fax 02 6795843
Ramzi Saba Senior Manager
Mazen El Attar Operations Manager- Abu Dhab
Anni Barsoum Credit Manager - Abu Dhabi
Dubai Tel 04 2827278
Al Gharoud Street, PO Box 27141 Fax 04 2827270
Nadim Melki Senior Manager
Toufic Youakim Credit Manager - Dubai
Fadi Haddad Operations Manager - Dubai
Al Ain 03 7517171
Khalifa Street, PO Box 84287 Fax 03 75170770
George Dib Branch Manager
Bank Saderat Iran
Dubai Tel 04-6035555
Regional Office, Al Maktoum Street, P.O. Box 4182 Fax 04 2229951
Dr.Hamid Borhani                 Regional Manager
Abdul Reza Shabahangi         Assistant Regional Manager
Mohammad Yousefi Peyhani       Assistant Regional Manager
Majid Tavasoli                            H.R. & Organization Dept. Manager
Gholamreza Joulaie               Credit Facility Dept. Manager
Rahim Erfan Moghaddam        Account Dept. Manager
Mehran Arzhang                        Letter of Credit Dept. Manager               
Majid Mirnasiri                          Recovery Dept. Manager
Hamdi Reza Khalajzadeh         Dealing Dept. Manager
Hojatollah Malek Mohammadi    IT Dept. Manager
Mansoor Sedaghat Motlagh        Service Dept. Manager
 Mohsen Hossein Hosseinpour   Manager of Al Maktoum Branch
Gholamreza Ebadi Fard          Manager of Murshid Bazar
Branch
Saeed Mirzaian Tafti         Manager of Sheikh Zayed Rd. Branch
Ferdos Zolfagharian            Manager of Bur Dubai Branch
Seifollah Farzan Mehr      Manager of Sharjah Branch

Jalil Vosooghi                            Manager of Ajman  Branch
Ali Abasteh                       Manager of Abu Dhabi Branch
Peyman Sabri                 Manager of Al Ain Branch
Banque Du Caire
Abu Dhabi Regional Head Office (02) 6225880
P.O. Box 533, Abu Dhabi Telefax 02-6225881
History: Established on 8th May, 1952 On July 1, 1960 the Amman Branch became
independent under the title of Cairo Amman Bank. In July, 1961 the Bank was na-
tionalized. On November 2, 1962 the Lebanese branches were absorbed by Banque
Misr-Liban S.A.L On October 1, 1979 fo3rmer branches in Saudi Arabia have been
saudized and a new bank was formed under the name of Saudi Cairo Bank.
Mohamed kamal Al Deen Barakat Chairman                   
 Ahmad Sherif Rehab Regional Manager   BNP Paribas
Abu Dhabi - UAE PO Box 533 Tel:        02-6272525
Abu Dhabi Branch  Mohamad Kamal Farid (Acting Manager) Tel:         02-6273000
Dubai Branch    Labib Abdul Ghaffar Tel:         04-2715175
Sharjah Branch      Tareq Hafez Tel:         06-5739379
Ras Al Khaima      Mohamad Abdul Ghani (Acting Manager) Tel:         07-2332245
Al Ain                          Abdul Hamid  Saeed Tel:         03-7511104
Barclays Bank PLC
Dubai Tel: 04 3626888
Emaar Business Park, Building No. 4, Sheikh Zayed Road Fax: 04 3663133
P.O. Box: 1891, Dubai
Website www.barclays.com
Saleem Sheikh Regional Managing Director, Middle East & North
Africa
Mark Petchell Group Country Managing Director
Amin Habib Director - Corporate Banking
Faizen Mitha Regional Treasurer
Farrukh Zain Head of Trade Sales
Florence Goodman Head of Corporate Afffairs & Public Relations
David Inglesfield Location Manager - International & Premier Bank-
ing
Callum Watts-Reham Director, Market Manager, Gulf - Barclays Private
Clients
Barclays Capital
Dubai International Financial Centre, Level 9,
West Wing, The Gate Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai
Nicholas Hegarthy Managing Director, Head of Middle East & North
Africa
BLC Bank (France) S.A.
Head Office
17-19 Avenue Montaigne Tel 33 1 56 52 11 00
75008 Paris, France Fax 33 1 56 52 11 11
Mr. Andre Tyan General Manager
Regional Office Dubai
Al Maidan Tower, Al Maktoum St. Tel 04 2222291
P.O. Box 4207, Dubai Fax 04 2283935
E-mail: blcdxbrm@emirates.net.ae
Melhem Dagher Administration & Operations Manager
Dubai
Al Maidan Tower, Al Maktoum St. Tel 04 2222291
P.O. Box 4207, Dubai Fax 04 2279861 Abdul Rahim Mohamed Al Awadi Asst. Executive Director
Hamze Abdul Sater Branch Manager
Abu Dhabi
Mohd. Joan Al Badi Bldg., Hamdan St. Tel 02 6220055
P.O. Box 3771 Fax 02 6222055
Ghassan Haddad Acting Regional Manager
Samir Rached Acting Branch Manager
Sharjah
Al Salam Bldg., Al Mina St. Tel 06 5724561
P.O. Box 854 Fax 06 5727843
Victor Khoriaty Branch Manager
Ras-Al-Khaimah
Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saker Al Quasimi Bldg., Al Montaser St. Tel 07 2286222
P.O. Box 771 Fax 07 2275067
Abd El Hajj Branch Manager
Abd Ahmad Al Hajj Branch Manager
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6130400
Khalifa Street, P.O. Box, 2742, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6268638
Marc Checri General Manager
Central Bank of the U.A.E
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6652220/6915555
Head Office, Al Bateen Area, Bainoona Street Fax 02 6668483/6668621
P.O.Box: 854, Abu Dhabi, www.cbuae.gov.ae
E-mail: sultan_rashid@cbuae.gov.ae
Swift: CBAU AE AA
Reuters dealing code: CBEM
History Established in 1980 as a central bank of the United Arab Emirates by a
federal
decree. Central bank took over the activity of the United Arab Emirates currency
board
which was established in 1973.
Management & Personnel
H.E. Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi Governor
H.E. Mohd. Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi Deputy Governor
Board of Directors
H.E. Mohd. Eid M. Jasim Al-Meraikhi Chairman
H.E. Jumaa Al-Majid Vice Chairman
H.E. Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi Governor
Members
Ali Al-Sayed Abdulla, Jamal Nasser Lootah,
Khalifa Nasser Bin Huwaileel, Saeed Rashid Al Yateem Al Muhairy
Executive Directors
Saeed Abdulla Al Hamiz Executive Director-Banking Supervision & Exami-
nation Dept.
Rashid Mohamed Al Fandi Executive Director - Banking Operations Dept.
Saif Hadef Al Shamesi Executive Director - Treasury Department
Salem Ahmed Al-Hammadi Executive Director - Research & Statistics Department
Abdulla Hamad Al-Zaabi Executive Director - Internal Audit Department
Jamal Ebrahim Al Mutawaa Executive Director - Administration Department
Economic Advisors
Abed Alla Osama Malki, Mohammed Zeitouni Bechri
Portfolio Managers
Mohammed Abdulla Mohammed, Brian Gardner
Anti-Money Laundering & Suspicious Cases Unit
General Secretariat & Legal Affairs Division
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 61
Salem Said Al Kubaisi Senior Manager
Financial Control Department
Hassan Ibrahim Al Hamar Senior Manager
Personnel Division
Ali Ghurair Al Romaithi Senior Manager
Correspondent Banking Division
Sultan Rashed Al-Sakeb Senior Manager
Public Relations Division
Abdul Raheem Abdullah Manager
Information Technology Division/ UAE Switch Division
Khalifa Al Dhaheri Senior Manager
Dubai Tel: 04 3939777
P.O. Box 448 Fax: 04 3937802
Omar Al Qaizi Manager-in-Charge
Sharjah Tel: 06 5592592
Old Airport Road, Opp. Immigration Bldg., P.O. Box 645, Sharjah Fax: 06 5593977
Zakaria Abdul Aziz Al Suwaidi Senior Manager
Ras Al Khaimah Tel: 07 2284444
Al Nakheel, Oman Street, P.O. Box 5000 Fax: 07 2284646
Salem Jasem Al Baker Asst. Executive Director
Fujairah Tel: 09 2224040
P.O. Box 768, Fujairah Fax: 09 2226805
Ali Mubarak Saeed Abbad Senior Manager Zainab Nour Aldin Employee Relations Manager 04 2126 442
Al Ain Tel: 03 656656
Ali Ibn Abee Taleb Street, Oud Al Touba Fax: 03 664777
P.O. Box 1414
Ajlan Ahmed Al Qubaisi Asst. Executive Director Faris Saddi Chief information Officer 04 2060700
Citibank N.A (UAE Branches)
Date of Establishment 1964
Nationality USA
Legal Status Ahmed Darwish RAK  Branch Manager (Nakhel Branch) 07 2227555
Commercial Banking Services (F)
Regional Head Office Oud Metha Towers
P.O Box 749, Dubai – UAE
Tel: 04- 3245000
Telex: 023 6738736
Cable: CITIBAEM
Swift: CITIAEAD
Reuters: N/A
Email: karim.seifeddine@citi.com
Website: www.citibank.ae
Auditors: KPMG
Domestic Branches: Ahmed Sulaim Al Junaibi Branch Manager 02 6264400
Al Wasl Road Branch (Main Branch) Tel: 04 3245000
Oud Metha Road, P.O Box 749 Abdulla Ali Branch manager 03 7669994
Dubai Branch (Next to Burjuman) Tel: Ras Al Khaimah
Abu Dhabi Branch Tel: 02 6982206
Al Salam Street, Next to Lulu Center Fax: 02 6726381
P.O Box 999, Abu Dhabi
Sharjah Branch Tel: 06 5072101
Beside Sharjah Emigration, Fax: 06 5723378
Opposite Civil Court. Sharjah
Al Ain Branch Tel: 03 7641090
Sh. Zayed Street Fax: 03 7663887
Broad of Directors: N/A
62 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010
General Management:
Atiq Ur-Rehman, MD for the Middle East and Chief Executive Officer, UAE
Sanjoy Sen, Consumer Bank Head – Middle East
Mohammed Azab, Chief Officer, UAE Offices, Citi Private Bank
Clearstream Banking
Dubai Tel 04 3310644
City Tower 2, Sheikh Zayed Road Fax 04 3316973
Website: www.clearstream.com
Robert Tabet Vice President Middle East & North Africa
Commercial Bank International
Dubai Tel 04 2275265
Head Office
Dubai  Al Riqqa Street Deira , P.O  Box 4449                       Tel : 04  2275265  
Website : www.cbiuae.com Fax : 04 2279038
 
Hamad Al Mutawaa Chairman  
H.E. Humaid Al Qatami Deputy Chairman  
Abdulla Rashid Omran Managing Director and Board Member 04  2242104
Mohammed Saadeh Head of GBG 04 2126500
Abdulla Amer Jasem Head of HR & Admin 04 2126466
Hesham Abdulla Head of Branches & Services 04 6020615
Ahmed Mustafa Tahoun Head of Internal Audit &
compliance Division 04  2126603
Ramanthan Murgappan Senior Manpower planning &
Recruitment Manager 04 2126444
Yousef Haddad Planning & Development Manager 04 2126190
Bashir Haji Mohd Chief Dealer 04 2126214
A.D.Abooty Head Of Operations & Finance 04 2126291
K.E Mammoo Accounts Manager 04 2126215
Yousef Al Marshoudi Dubai Branch Manager 04-2275265
Tariq Selaij Bur Dubai Manager 04-3559577
Ameena Bin Kaali Sheikh Zayed Branch Manager 04 3405555
Ahmed Al Junaibi Abu Dhabi Branch Manager 02-6913111
Abdulla Ali Almadhani Al Ain Branch Manager 03 7669994
Mohammed Ishaq RAK  Branch Manager (AL Manar Mall) 07 2274777
Alyia Al Mulla Sharjah Branch Manager 06 512100
Ahmed Bin Masood
Fujairah Branch Manager 09 2011777
Dubai Main Branch (Al Riqqa Street)
Yousef Al Marshaudi Branch manager 04 2126101
Bur Dubai
Tariq Sulaij Branch manager 04 3555511
Sheikh Zayed Road
Ameena Mhd. Bin Kaadi Branch manager 04 3405555
Abu Dhabi
AL AIN
Khaled Al Mannai Branch Manager (Manar Mall) 07 2274777
Ahmed Yousef A. Darwish Branch Manager (Nakeel Branch) 07 2227555
Sharjah
Aliya Al Mulla Branch manager 06 5687666
Commercial Bank of Dubai
COMMERCIAL BANK OF DUBAI,
P.O. BOX 2668, AL AITIHAD STREET, DUBAI
TOLL-FREE: 800 CBD (223) Website: www.calyon.com
TEL: 04 2121000 FAX: 04 2121911 Amr Alkabbani                         Regional Manager – Gulf      04 3317316
E-Mail: cbd-ho@cbd.ae Website: www.cbd.ae LudovicBernard-Maissa         RegionalCOO                                                                                   
Eric Fromaget                          Head of Private Banking         04 3321300
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Sebastian Van der List            Head of Corporate Banking – UAE      04 3315836
Peter Baltussen Chief Executive Naeem Khan                            Trade Finance          04 3291055
Yaqoob Yousuf Hassan Deputy Chief Executive Albert Mondjian                       Head of Investment Banking – MEA    04 4284803
Ibrahim Abdulla General Manager, Administration & Finance  
Mahmoud Hadi General Manager, Systems & Operations Abu Dhabi
Faisal Galadari General Manager, Business Group Al Muhairy Centre, Level 5              Tel:      02 6351100
Ahmed Shaheen General Manager, Credit & Risk Management Block C, Sheikh Zayed the First Street          Fax:     02 6344995
P.O.Box: 4725
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS Ghazi Abdul Fattah                  Branch Manager           02 6351991
Stephen Davies Head of Corporate Banking
Moukarram Attasi Head of Asset Management Credit Suisse
Frans Jan Burkens Head of Consumer Banking
John Tuke Head of Treasury & ALM Abu Dhabi
V.P Bhatia Head of Treasury Trading Dhabi Tower, 4th floor, Sheikh Hamdan Street Tel 02 6275048
Masood Azhar Head of Strategic Planning Department P.O.Box 47060 Fax 02 6274109
Amir Afzal Head of Information Technology Jean-Marc Suter Director
Adel Al Sammak Head of Commercial Banking
Kanan Iyer Head of Internal Audit Dubai
Alan Hill Head of Treasury Sales P.O. Box 33660 04 3620000
Abdul Rahim Al Nimr Head of Wealth Management The Gate bldg, 9th Floor Fax 04 3620001
Badr Soueidan Head of Marketing Dubai International Finance Centre ( DIFC), Dubai
Nabil Tayyeb Head of Islamic Banking Head of Regional Office Beat Naegell
Mr. Mohamed Mardood Head of Central Operations Department
Mr. Hassan Al Redha Head of Financial Institutions Deutsche Bank A G
Akram Gharabeh Head of Financial Control
Waleed Bin Suloom Head of Personal Banking and Alt Banking Chan- Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6333122
nels P.O.Box 52333 Fax 02 6322044
Jamal Saleh Head of Risk Management E-mail: jens.moeller@db.com
Salah Omer Head of Legal Services Jens Moeller Representative
Rahmatulla Khan Head of Consumer Products
Nigel Foster Head of Human Resources Strategy Dubai
Wafaii Tamimi Head of Recovery P.O. Box: 50490
REGIONAL MANAGERS Emirates Towers, Level 27b
Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ansari AGM, Sharjah Branch Fax 04 3199560
Ibrahim Salama Regional Manager, Main Region Karl French Director Tel : 04 3199514
Othman Bin Hendi Regional Manager, Abu Dhabi & New Dubai Private Wealth Management - Asia
Region Nadeem Masud Director Tel : 04 3199524
Alsayed Mohd. Al Hashimi Regional Manager, Deira Region Global Markets
Marwan Ibrahim Regional Manager, Northern Emirates Region Harris Irfan Vice President Tel : 04 3199520
Ahmed Al Aboodi Regional Manager, Bur Dubai Region Global Equities & Derivatives
Rohit Johri Vice President Tel : 04 3199522
Private Wealth Management - Asia

Dresdner Bank AG
Dubai Representative Office
Burjuman Business Towers, 10th Floor, Office 1011
Coutts & Co. Bur Dubai, P.O. Box: 25654 Tel 04 3596444
Fax 04 3596116
Representative Office - Dubai Tel 04 2217007 E-mail: RepDubai@Dresdner-Bank.com
Twin Towers, Baniyas Street, Deira
Fax 04 2217006 Bashar A. Barakat Chief Representative
P.O. Box 42220 Regional Head GCC & Yemen
Sarah Deaves CEO
Sandra Shaw General Manager
Martin Bond Private Banker Dubai Bank
Main Office
Calyon Corporate & Investment Bank Sheikh Zayed Road, Near Dubai World Trade Centre Tel 04 3328989
  P.O. Box 65555, Dubai Fax 04 3290071
(Previously Crédit Agricole Indosuez & Crédit Lyonnais) E-mail: info@dubaibank.ae
  Website: www.dubaibank.ae
Dubai
World Trade Centre, Level 32                            Tel:      04 3314211 History: Established in September 2002
P.O.Box: 9256                                                            Fax:     04 3313201

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 63

Ziad Makkawi Chief Executive Officer Abu Dhabi 02 6455151
Hameed Sheikh Manager
Al Ain 03 7510055/77
Dubai Islamic Bank Ghanim Al Hajeri Manager
Al Maktoum
Head Office Ali Malallah Manager
Al Maktoum Street, Dubai Tel 04 2953000 Al Quoz
P.O. Box 1080, Dubai Fax 04 2954111 Mohd. Abdulla Manager
Website: www.dib.ae. Email : contactus@dib.ae Baniyas Square
History: Established March 12, 1975 Sherif Al Ulama Manager
H.E. Mohammed Ebrahim Al Shaibani Chairman Bander Talib
H.H. Khaled bin Zayed S. Al Nehayan Deputy Chairman Fareed Aquilli Manager
Abdulla Al Hamli CEO Dubai Main Branch
Amal Al Qamzi Manager
Branches Fujairah 09 2222114/110
Dubai Yousif Al Marshoudi Manager
Deira Main Branch 04 2959999 Internet City 04 3910840/1
Bur Dubai 04 3971717 Balakrishnan Nair Manager
Al Souk 04 2233300 Galleria
Ras Al Khor 04 3330060 Farida Al Balooshi Manager
Al Twar 04 2631000 IBN Gardens 04 8844689
Jumeirah Beach Residence 04 4270400 Hamdan Mohd. Abdulla Manager
Oud Metha 04 3366313 Jebel Ali Free Zone 04 8815551
Nad Al Hamar 04 2899551 Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Manager
Jumeirah 04 3429955 Karama
Abu Hail 04 2681818 Muna Al Falahi Manager
Abu Dhabi 02 6346600 Karama Shopping Complex
Airport Road, Abu Dhabi 02 6346600 Nawal Al Khader Manager
Al Salam 02 6450555 Mankhool
Corniche 02 6819300 Abdul Rahim Abdulla Manager
Al Muroor 02 4490007 Qiyadah
Al Khalidiya 02 6677119 Fatima Al Midfa Manager
Sharjah Ghusais
Sharjah Main 06 5726444 Fatima Al Midfa Manager
Wasit 06 5584455 Ramoul
Al Tawun 06 5775500 Ibrahim Hassan Manager
Moweleh 06 5350222 Ras Al Khaimah 07 2272333
Al Nuaimiyah 06 7410333 Khalifa Bin Kalban Manager
Al Ain Satwa
Al An Main 03 7644111 Mohamed Bilal Manager
Al Ain Mall 03 7516555 Sharjah Industrial Area 06 5345577
Ajman 06 7466555 Mohamed Al Shouq Manager
Ras Al Khaimah 07 2284888 Sharjah 06 5733300
Khuzam, Ras Al Khaimah 07 2362666 Mahmoud Saif Manager
Fujairah 09 2221550 Souk
Umm Al Quwain 06 7666630 Samia Al Aqady Manager
Umm Suqueim
El Nilein Bank Nazia Kalban Manager
Tower
Abu Dhabi Saif Al Mansoori Manager
P.O.Box 46013 Tel 02 6269995 World Trade Centre
Fax 02 6275551 Abdulla Sulaij Al Falasi Manager
Abdulla Mahmoud Awad Manager Tel 02 6720934 Najdah 02 6771919
Mohamed Osman Salih Deputy Manager 02 6761916 Butti Al Assiri Manager
Murlidhar G. Ramchandani Chief Accountant & Dealer 02-6729300
Ahmed Hillali Ahmed Head Investment Dept. & Credit 02-6729300
Emirates Industrial Bank
Emirates Bank International Abu Dhabi - Head Office Tel 02 6339700
P.O. Box 2722, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6319191/6326397
Dubai E-mail: indbank@emirates.net.ae
Main Branch, Baniyas Road, Deira Dubai Tel 04 2211300
Tel 04 2256900 Arbift Tower, Deira P.O. Box 5454, Dubai Fax 04 2232320
P.O. Box 2923, Dubai Fax 04 2267718 E-mail: eibdubai@emirates.net.ae
Website: www.emiratesindustrialbank.net
Branches Senior Management Personnel/Branch ManagerMohamed Abdulbaki Mohamed

64 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010


General Manager
Ahmed Mohamed Bakhit Khalfan Deputy General Manager
Abdullah Rashed Omran Dubai Branch Manager
Khalifa Al Falasi Acting Projects Division Manager
Ali Ahmed Al Essa Development Services Division Manager
Nasser Haji Malek Administration Manager
Essa A. Bu Al Rougha Internal Audit Manager
Mohamed Moneir Makled Finance Manager
Salem Abu Baker Salem Acting Loans Division Manager
Emirates Islamic Bank
P.O. Box: 6564, 2nd & 3rd Floor, Al Gurg Tower 1 Tel: 04 3160330
Plot 372 - Riggat Al Buteen, Deira, Dubai. Fax: 04 2272172
www.emiratesislamicbank.ae
Ebrahim Fayez Al Shamsi CEO 04 3160330
Abdulla Showaiter (General manager – corporate and investment banking)
Faisal Aqil General manager – retail banking
Ahmed Fayez Alshamsi chief financial officer
Syed Imran Bashir          Head of marketing and product development
Samih Mohd Qadri Awadalla        head of branches
Nasir Ahmed Khan                       head of consumer finance
Zahir Mulla                                head of operations
IMB (Main Branch) P.O. Box: 6564, Al Gurg Tower 2, Riggat Al Buteen, Dubai.
BUD (Bur Dubai) P.O. Box: 6564, Khalid Bin Walid Road, Dubai.
DFR (Diyafa) P.O. Box: 6564, Diyafa Road, Dubai.
RIQ (Riqqa) P.O. Box: 6564, Omar Bin Al Khattab Street, Dubai.
ADC (Abu Dhabi) P.O. Box: 46077, Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, Abu Dbahi.
ROS (Ras Al-Khaima) P.O. Box: 5198, 191 Oman Street, Al Nakeel, Ras Al Khaima.
Fuj (Fujairah) P.O. Box: 1472, Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Street, Fujairah.
AJS (Al Ain) P.O. Box: 15095, Jawazat Street, Al Ain.
QFS (Umm Al-Qaiwain) P.O. Box: 315, King Faisal Road, Umm Al Qaiwain.
SBA (Sharjah) P.O. Box: 5169, Al Arooba Bank Street, Sharjah.
Finance House P.J.S.C.
Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Jumaa Al Qubaisi Chairman Farhan Bakhshy Branch Manager
Mr. Abdul Hamid Umer Taylor General Manager 02 6194998
Mr. T.K. Raman Chief Operating Officer 02 6194889
Mr. Mohammed Wassim Khayata Executive VP – Strategic Planning 02 6194445
Mr. Ramesh S. Mahalingam Chief Investments & Financial Officer 02 6194601
Mrs. Shagufta Farid Khan Head of Internal Audit 02 6194223
Ms. Lina Abdul Hamid I. El Araj Manager – General Services 02 6194702
Mr. Tarek Soubra Vice President – Central Operations 02 6194362
Ms. Maha Al Jamal Senior Manager – Marketing 02 6194893
First Gulf Bank
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6816666
Head Office, Sh. Zayed Second Street, Khalidiya History: Established on August 25, 1941Nationalised on January 1, 1974 On June
P.O. Box 6316, Abu Dhabi
Website: www.fbg.ae
History: Established in 1979
Shareholder Equity of over AED 10 billion
Senior Management
Abdulhamid Mohammed Saeed Managing Director 02 6920502
Andre’ Sayegh Chief Executive Officer 02 6920506
Amit Wanchoo Head of Retail Banking Group
Arif Shaikh Chief Credit & Risk Officer
George Abraham Head of Corporate Banking
Gopi Krishna Madhavan Head of Human Resources
Hana Al Rostamani Strategic Planning Head
Karim Karoui Head of Business Planning & Financial Control
Nadeem A. Siddiqui Head of International Business
Shafiqur Rehman Adhami SR. VP, CB FI\SYN\MNC\OIL & Energy Sector
Zafar Habib Khan Chief Investment Officer
Zulfiquar Ali Sulaiman Business Support Director
Habib Bank A.G. Zurich
Head Office: Zurich, Switzerland
Zonal Office: Dubai Tel 04 2214535
Baniyas Square Deira, P.O. Box 3306
Fax 04 2284211
E-mail: hbzcad@habibbank.com
Website: www.habibbank.com
History: Established in 1967
Reza S. Habib Joint President
Arif Lakhani Chief Executive Vice President 04 2229985
Asad Habib Senior EVP
Afzal Memon Senior EVP
Shariq Ali Senior EVP
Deira Mains 04 2214535
Najibullah Khan Branch Manager
Farrukh Iqbal Deputy Branch Manager
Corporate 04 3513777
Awais Hasan Branch Manager
Sharjeel Vijdani Deputy Branch Manager
Al Fahidi Street 04 3534545
Zain Ghazali Branch Manager
Abdul Basheer Deputy Branch Manager
Jebel Ali 04 8812828
Nisar Chowdhary Branch Manager
Ifthikhar Memon Deputy Branch Manager
Sh.Zayed Branch 04 3313999
Zia Abbas Mirza Branch Manager
Kashif Aijaz Dodhy Deputy Branch Manager
Abu Dhabi
Sh. Hamdan 02 6346888
Imamat Naqvi Area Manager
Al Falah 02 6422600
Syed Akhtar Hussain Branch Manager
Raid Saleem Ansari Deputy Branch Manager
Sharjah 06 5730004
Al Boorj Avenue
Younus Warsi Area Manager
Kausarullah Khan Branch Manager
Habib Bank limited
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6224688
Main Branch, Corniche Road, P.O.Box 897, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6225620
E-mail: hbl2003m@emirates.net.ae
1974 absorbed Habib Bank Ltd. On June 30, 1975 absorbed Standard Bank Ltd.,
Karachi
Aman Aziz Siddiqi EVP/RGM 04 3597753
Mohammad Tanvir HR. Manager 04 3592292
Fouad Farrukh GRM 04 3592214
Sh. Abdul Basit AVP/CAD Manager 04 3592539
M. Amin Usman AVP/Treasury 04 3591893
Ahmed Faraz Faruqi VP/Head ICU 04 3592517
Nadeem Zia VP/Head FINCON 04 3592292
Syed Ali Gohar VP/IT/Head 04 3592820
Abdul Shahid Khan VP/Head Cops 04 3591874
Abu Dhabi
BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 65

Sh. Zayed Road, 2nd Street
Mushtaq H. Shah Service Manager 02 6344557
Abu Dhabi
Main Branch Ranjit Paul Director
M. Saadat Cheema VP/Chief Manager 02 6224655
Al Ain 03 7642555
Abdul Jalil Al Fahim Bldg.
Adbul Hameed Khan AVP/Senior Manager 03 7642555
Dubai Regional Office
Sahibzada M. Taimur SVP/Corporate Manager 04 3596922
Sameera Mohammad Service Manager 04 3592016
Sheikh Zayed Road, Kalantar Tower
Khalid Bin Shaheen SVP/Director 04 3431421
Mahdi Hassan Business Development Manager 04 3438081
Isar-Ul-Haq Service Manager 04 3438081
Deira Branch, Creek Road
Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhatti Service Manager 04 2253292
Sharjah 06 5682552 / 5683473
Al Boorj Avenue
Assad Ali Shaikh AVP/Branch Manager 06 5695122
Dhaid & Dibba 06 8822249
Near Al Dhaid Police Station 06 8822249
Abdul Sattar Badi Service Manager 06 8822249
HDFC Bank
Representative Office: Dubai Tel 04 3966991
Juma Al Majid Bldg., Opp Bur Juman Centre Fax 04 3967010
P O Box 64546, Email: hdfcbank@emirates.net.ae
Faisal Saeed Cheif Representative Tel 04 3966991
HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd
Regional Management Office
Emaar Square, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, P.O. Box 66 Tel 600 55 4722
Fax 04 4267397
From outside the UAE + 971 600 55 4722
Email : contactus.me@hsbc.com. www.hsbc.ae
Melwyn Dias Executive Director
B.R. Subramanian Director
P.G. Bhaskar Director
Piyush Bhandari Director
Nitin Bhatnagar Director
Rishi Chauhan Director
Asad Dadarkar Director
Ashraf Al Yamani Director
InvestBank
Sharjah Tel 06 5694440
Al Boorj Avenue, P.O. Box 1885 Fax 06-5694442
E-mail: sharjah@invest-bank.com
Website: www.invest-bank.com
History: Established on 2nd February 1975 as Investment Bank for Trade & Finance
On July 1, 1995 name changed to Investbank.
Sami Farhat General Manager
Qasim Kazmi AGM. Operations & Treasury
Taleb Zaarour Senior Manager-ADM & Legal
Athar Anis Manager, Credit Risk
Bassam Hollmerus Chief Dealer
Sajjad H. Holimerus Trade Finance
Madhu Pilakazhi Financial Controller
Ghassan Accari Personnel Manager
Vinay Gupta IT Manager
Dubai 04 3213131
Sheikh Zayed Road
Dubai 04 2285551
Al Maktoum Street
Al Ain 03 7644446
Al Ghaba Street
Abu Dhabi 02 6794594
Sh. Khalifa street
Abu Dhabi 02 5555336
Mussaffa Area
Sharjah 06 5420333
Industrial Area

Simon Cooper Deputy Chairman & CEO, Middle East & N. Africa Janata Bank
Abdulfattah Sharaf CEO, UAE
Declan G Hegarty Head of Business, Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi
Obied Sayah Al-Mansuri Building Tel No 02-6331400
Electra Road, Post Box No. 2630 Fax : 02-6348749
IndusInd Bank Email jbadas@emirates.net.ae
Mr. Md. Masuduzzaman Chief Executive 02-6344543
Dubai Representative Office Tel 04 3978803 Mr. Md. Chaynul Haque IT Manager/SPO 02-6340881
203, Safa Commercial Bldg. Fax 04 3978805 Mr. Md. Ramjan Bahar System Administrator/PO 02-6340881
Opp. Bur Juman Centre, P.O. Box: 111873, Dubai. Abu Dhabi
E-mail: ibldubai@indusind.ae Mr. Mohamudul Hoque Manager 0 2-6344542
Pradeep Gupta Vice President & Chief Representative 04 3978804 Dubai
Mr. Md. Abdul Awal Manager
ING Asia Private Bank Ltd Mohammad Saleh Al-Gurg Building 0 4-2281442
Al-Borj Street, P.O. Box 3342
Dubai Representative Office Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman Manager
Tel 04 4277100 Sharjah
602, Level 6, Building 4 Saqer Bin Rashid Al Quassim Building
Fax 04 4257801 Al Suwaiheen Street, P.O. Box- 5303 0 6-5687032
Burj Dubai Square Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman Manager
Sheikh Zayed Road Al Ain Branch
P.O Box 4296, Dubai – UAE Mr. Md Shahadat Hossain Manager
Suresh Nanda Managing Director & Head Sk. Khalifa Bin Mohd. Al-Nahyan Building,
Eric Lorentz Managing Director Main Market Centre, Main Street,
Varun Bukshi Executive Director P.O. Box- 1107 0 3-7513425

66 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

 Lloyds TSB Bank plc Al Aweer 04 3333727
Abu Dhabi 02 6274300
Dubai Main Branch
Main Branch, Khalifa Street
Al Wasl Road, Opp. Safa Park Tel 04 3422000
Musaffa 02 5555051
P.O. Box: 3766, Dubai, UAE Fax 04 3422660
Zayed the 2nd Street 02 6334021
E-mail: information@lloydstsb.ae
Al Salam Street 02 6786500
Website: www.lloydstsb.ae
Al Mushrif 02 4432424
Vivek Vohra Head of Corporate Origination
Baniyas 02 5821100
Giles Cunningham Regional Manager, UAE & Gulf States 04 3023267
Muroor 02 4481858
Bert de Ruiter Managing Director 04 3023267
Khalidiya 02 6665757
Steve Williams Consumer Banking Director 04 3023267
Al Ain 03 7667700
Jon Mortell Head of Corporate Banking 04 3023266
Al Ain Main Street
Suresh Jadhwani Treasury Manager 04 3023256
Ali Ibn Abi Tailb St. 03 7669968
Tim Goddard Head of Operations and IT 04 3023250
Ajman 06 7422440
Derek Vaz Head of Finance and Planning 04 3023330
Shk Humaid Bin Abdul Aziz Street, Near Ajman Museum
Caroline Ridley HR Manager 04 3023270
Fujairah 09 2221100
Steve Snowdon  Head of Middle Office
Sh. Hamad Street
Alex de Melo Head of Treasury Trading
Ras Al Khaimah 07 2361644
Edson Suppo Head of Treasury Strategy & Risk
King Faisal Street.
Claire Thomas Head of Human Resources
Al Nakheel RAK 07 2281695
Sharjah Main 06 5684366
Dubai Customer Service Centres
Bank Street, Rolla
Community Centre at Arabian Ranches, Dubai Tel 04 3023318
King Abdul Aziz Street 06 5730883
Fax 04 3618035
Dhaid 06 8822899
Dubai Healthcare City (Behind Wafi City) Tel 04 3023349
Main Street, Sh. Arsan Hameed Bldg., Dhaid
Fax 04 3624805
Dibba 09 2444230
Kalba 09 2777430
Man Investments Middle East Limited Kalba City
Khorfakkan 09 2385295
Representative Office Dubai Tel 04 3604999 Umm Al Quwain 06 7666948
Level 5, West Wing, The Gate, Dubai Internaional Financial Centre Fax 04 3604900 King Faisal Street, Next to New Souk
P.O. Box: 73221, Dubai
Website: www.maninvestments.com
E-mail: ManDubai@maninvestments.com
Patrik Merville Chief Executive Officer Merill Lynch International & Co.C.V
Kamlesh Bhatia Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Representative Office Dubai (04) 3975555
Business Center Building, Khalid Bin Walid Street
P.O. Box 3911, Dubai
Mashreqbank Telefax 04-3975252
Executive Director Mones Bazzy
Dubai Tel 04 2223333
Head Office, Omar Bin Al Khatab Street, Deira Fax 04 2226061
NATIXIS
P.O. Box 1250, Dubai
History: Established on 1st May, 1967 as Bank of
Dubai Branch Tel 04 7026777
Oman Limited. On October 1st 1993 name was changed to MashreqBank PSC.
DIFC Gate Village Fax 04 7026820
bdullah Al Ghurair President and Chairman
Building No. 8, 5th Floor
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair CEO
P.O Box 33770
Ali Raza Khan
Email: natixis@emirates.net.ae
Head of Corporate Affairs
Website: www.natixis.fr
Douglas Beckett Head of Retail Banking
Philippe Petitgas CEO
Omar Bouhadiba Head of Investment and Corporate Banking
Nabeel Waheed Head of Treasury and Capital Markets
Nigel Morgan Head of Audit Review & Compliance National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Majid Husain Head of Financial Institutions
Somnath Menon Head of Operations & Technology Head Office: Abu Dhabi 02 - 6111111
Kantic DasGupta Head of Risk Management One NBAD Tower, Khalifa St., P.O. Box 4, Abu Dhabi
Alexander Sinclair Head of Technology Telex 22266/7 MASRIP EM
Mubashar Khokhar CEO of Badr Al Islami History: Established in 1968
Ebrahim Kazi Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications H.E. KHALIFA MOHAMED AL KINDI Chairman
Saad Hakim Events and Public Relations Manager H.E. DR. JAUAN SALEM AL DHAHIRI Deputy Chairman
Al Khaleej Street, Deira 04 2717771 MICHAEL H. TOMALIN Chief Executive
Souq Al Kabir Branch 04 2264176 ABDULLA MOHAMMED SALEH ABDULRAHEEM GM & Chief Operating Officer
Hor Al Anz, Deira 04 2623100 SAIF ALI MOHAMED MUNAKHAS AL SHEHHI GM Domestic Banking Division
Jumeirah Branch 04 3441600 QAMBER ALI AL MULLA GM International Banking Division
Jebel Ali 04 8815355 ABHIJIT CHOUDHURY GM & Chief Risk Officer
Khor Branch 04 3534000 JOHN GARRETT GM & Chief Audit & Compliance Officer
Bur Juman Centre 04 3527103
Al Riqa, Deira 04 2229131

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 67

Abu Dhabi
Main Branch 02 - 6111111
Khalidiya 02 - 6666800
Dept. of Social Services & Commercial Buildings 02 - 6346673
ADCO 02 - 6672642
ADMA 02 - 6263225
ADNOC 02 - 6669143
Abu Dhabi Municipality 02 - 6744749
NPCC 02 - 5549282 Al Falah Camp Office 06 - 5385969
ZADCO 02 - 6768821
HILTON 02 - 6812280
Abu Dhabi International Airport 02 - 5757303
Sheikh Rashed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Road 02 - 6419800
Abu Dhabi Mall 02 - 6452200
Arabian Gulf Road 02 - 4478878
Baniyas 02 - 5831625
Bateen 02 - 6658332
Between The Two Bridges Area 02 - 5589446
Corniche 02 - 6220300
Dalma Island 02 - 8781240
TAMM 02 - 8945528
Das Island 02 - 8731099
Liwa 02 - 8822388
Madinat Zayed 02 - 8846146
Government Complex 02 - 8945428
Al Mirfaa 02 - 8836506
Al Ruwais 02 - 8776343
Al Muroor 02 - 4481918
Mussafah 02 - 5553357
Dept. of Social Services & Commercial Buildings (Mussafah) 02 - 5520681
Mussafah Municipality 02 - 5540300
Industrial City of Abu Dhabi 02 - 5501125
Al Salam St. 02 - 6442900
Al Shahama 02 - 5632411
New Al Shahama 02 - 5635695
Abu Dhabi Municipality-Shahama 02 - 5631385
Sweihan 03 - 7347919
Marina Mall 02 - 6816002
Al Etihad 02 - 6111111
Emirates Palace 02 - 6908900
National Exhibition Centre 02 - 4494996
Mina Road 02 - 6767665
Al Alin
Al Ain Clock Tower 03 - 7642400
Al Ain 03 - 7516900
Al Ain Cement Factory 03 - 7828060
Al Ain International Airport 03 - 7855511
Al Ain Defence 03 - 7688824
Al Sanaiya 03 - 7213222
Al Hayer 02 - 7322400
Al Ain Mall 03 - 7519900
Ajman
Ajman 06 - 7422996
Dubai
Deira 04 - 2226141
Dubai Side 04 - 3599111
Jebel Ali 04 - 8815655
Sh. Zayed Road 04 - 3433311
Al Qusais 04 - 2674176
Jumeirah 04 - 3499001
Mall of the Emirates 04 - 3413888
Fujairah
Fujairah 09 - 2222458
Dibba 09 - 2444223
68 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010
Ras Al Khaimah
Al Nakheel 07 - 2281753
Ras Al Khaimah 07 - 2334333
Sharjah
Al Bourj Avenue 06 - 5695500
Sharjah 06 - 5721111
Al Dhaid 06 - 8822929
Khorfakkan 09 - 2385250
Kalba 09 - 2772112
Umm Al Quwain
Umm Al Quwain 06 - 7660033
National Bank of Bahrain
Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6335288
Khalaf Bin Ahmed Al Otaiba Building, Sh. Hamdan Street Fax 02 6333783
P.O.Box 46080
Email: nbbbr96@emirates.net.ae
Website: www.nbbonline.com
Farouk Khalaf UAE Country Manager 02 6335299
Ingersoll Ramalingam Manager Credit 02 6311248
National Bank of Dubai
Dubai Tel 04 2222111
Head Office Baniyas Street, Deira
Fax 04 2283000
P.O. Box 777
Email: contactus@nbd.co.ae
Website: www.nbd.com
History: Established in1963 as National Bank of Dubai Limited. In 1994 name was
changed to National Bank of Dubai.
R. Douglas Dowie CEO
Joyshil Mitter CFO
Alex Richardson COO
Leslic Rice CRO
Abdul Shakoor Tahlak CM - Intl.
Ghanim Bin Zaal CM - Business Development
Ali Al Najjar CM - Liability
Suvo Sarkar Head of Retail
Rajesh Thaper Head Of Corporate
Faranak Foroughi Head of TPO
Husam Al Sayad Head of HR
G. Krishnamoorthy Treasurer
Sue Evans Head of IS&T
Alan M. Smith Head of Group Audit
A. Chandran Head of BPQM
Walid El Masri Head of Corp Comm
Rashmi Malik Head of Strategy
Abdul Fattah Sharaf GM NFS
Mohamed Al Neaimi GM Aqarat
Ali Kaitoob Head of Dist. Retail
P.S. Sastry SM CEO’s Office
Hesham Qassimi Divisional Manager Corporate Banking
Abu Dhabi P.O. Box: 386 Tel : 02 6394555 Fax : 02 6346767
Ajman P.O. Box: 712 Tel : 06 7456555 Fax : 06 7456060
Ajman Archives Tel : 06 7444606 Fax : 06 7425883
Al Mizhar Tel : 04 2641221 Fax : 04 2640569
Al Ain P.O. Box: 16122 Tel : 03 7644345 Fax : 03 7668515
P.O.Box 800, Umm Al Qaiwain
Burjuman Centre Tel : 04 3555222 Fax : 04 3554455
Falaj Al Mualla Branch Tel: 06 8824447
Bullion Tel : 04 2284757 Fax : 04 2289090
NBQ Building, Shaikh Zayed Street Fax: 06 8824445
Convention Centre Branch Tel : 04 3320808 Fax : 04 3320908
P.O.Box 11074 Falaj Al Mualla
Dubai Central Fruit & Vgtbl. Mkt Branch Al Awir Tel : 04 3333880 Fax : 04 3333870
Dubai Branches Tel: 04 3976655
Dubai International Airport Tel : 04 2200404 Fax : 04 2244614
NBQ Building, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street Fax: 04 3975382
Dubai International Airport Pay Office Tel : 04 2164946 Fax : 04 2244614
P.O. Box 9715 Dubai 
Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162450 Fax : 04 2244614
Deira Branch Tel: 04 2651222
Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2166995 Fax : 04 2244614
Opposite Dubai Police Head Quaiter Fax: 04 2651333
Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162452 Fax : 04 2244614
Al Ittihad Street, P.O. Box 8898 Deira,
Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162434 Fax : 04 2244614
Abu Dhabi Branch
Dubai Internation Airport Tel : 04 2162740 Fax : 04 2244614
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street (# 5) Tel: 02 6775100
Dubai Media City Pay Office Tel : 04 3902007 Fax : 04 3908855
P.O. Box 3915 Abu Dhabi  Fax: 02 6779644
Deira City Centre Tel : 04 2951555 Fax : 04 2951525
Mussafah Branch Tel: 02 5555088
Dubai Airline Centre Tel : 04 2952555 Fax : 04 2955655
P.O. Box 9770 Abu Dhabi Fax: 02 5553559
Dubai Airport Free Zone Tel : 04 2995550 Fax : 04 2995557
Al Ain Branch Tel: 03 3751300
Dubai Courts Tel : 04 3366702 Fax : 04 3353906
Oud Al Touba Street Fax: 03 7513500
Dubai Media City Pay Office Tel : 04 3030400 Fax : 04 3908855
Al Mandoos Roundabout
Emirates Tower Tel : 04 3300133 Fax : 04 3300155
P.O. Box 17888 Al Ain
Fahidi Tel : 04 3535575 Fax : 04 3535575
Sharjah Branch Tel: 06 5742000
Emirates Tower Tel : 04 3530308 Fax : 04 3534601
King Faisal Street, Fax: 06 5742200
Emirates Tower Tel : 04 2823400 Fax : 04 2823640
P.O.Box 23000 Sharjah
Fahidi Direct Banking Tel : 04 3532840 Fax : 04 3531443
NBQ Kiosk Fax: 06 5742200
Fujairah Branch P.O. Box: 1744 Tel : 09 2233335 Fax : 09 2233336
Sharjah Mega Mall
Hamriya Tel : 04 2663189 Fax : 04 2690103
P.O.Box 23000 Sharjah
Hatta Tel : 04 8523183 Fax : 04 8521051
Ajman Branches
Ibn Battuta Mall Branch Tel : 04 3685499 Fax : 04 3685501
City Center Branch Tel: 06 7436000
Ittihad Road Tel : 04 2955600 Fax : 04 2955611
Ajman City Center Fax: 06 7436060
Jumeirah Branch Tel : 04 3420202 Fax : 04 3421112
P.O.Box 4133 Ajman
Jebel Ali Tel : 04 8816087 Fax : 04 8816961
Masfout Branch Tel: 04 8523377
Main Office Tel : 04 2222111 Fax : 04 2283000
NBQ Building Fax: 04 8523093
Maktoom Branch Tel : 04 2281141 Fax : 04 2235456
Main Street
Malleq Emirates Branch Tel : 04 3410777 Fax : 04 3410707
P.O.Box 12550 Masfout, Ajman
Muhaissnah Branch Tel : 04 2544545 Fax : 04 2544646
Fujairah Branch Tel: 09 2232100
Nadd Al Shiba Tel : 04 3363939 Fax : 04 3363788
Fujairah Insurance Co. Building Fax: 09 2232220
Oud Metha Branch (Ex-Gulf Tower Branch) Tel : 04 3370222 Fax : 04 3366145
Hamad Bin Abdulla Road
Ras Al Kaimah P.O. Box : 1932 Tel : 07 2279888 Fax : 07 2279889
P.O.Box 1444 Fujairah
Rashidiya Tel : 04 2859523 Fax : 04 2854847
Ras Al Khaimah Branch Tel: 07 2366444
Souk Madinat Jumeirah Branch Tel : 04 3686130 Fax : 04 3686195
Corniche Al Qawasim Road Fax: 07 2364470
Sh. Zayed Road (Saeed Tower) Tel : 04 3313183 Fax : 04 3310629
P.O.Box 32253
Sharjah P.O. Box : 21850 Tel : 06 5738888 Fax : 06 5733000
Ras Al Khaimah
Umm Al Quwain P.O. Box : 22 Tel : 06 7656154 Fax : 06 7655151
Emirates Tower Tel : 06 7656152 Fax : 04 3300155
Umm Suqeim Tel : 04 3485222 Fax : 04 3482535 Philippine National Bank
Dubai Representative Office
National Bank of Oman Room 108, Al Nakheel Bldg., Zabeel Road, Karama Tel 04 3365940
P.O. Box 52357, Dubai, UAE Fax 04 3374474
Abu Dhabi
E-mail: pnbdxb@emirates.net.ae
Bin Sagar Towers, Najda Street Tel 02 6348111 / 6323456
Amroussi Tillah Rasul First Vice President & Regional Representative
P.O. Box 3822 Fax 02 6325027
Ravi S. Khot Country Manager 02 6393028
Salim Al Khanjri Manager - Operations 02 6392535 Rafidain Bank
Minhajuddin Niazi Manager - Consumer Banking & Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6335882 / 3
Business Development 02 6326560 Al Nasser Street, Glass Bldg. Fax 6326996
K.K. Gambhir Manager - Corporate Banking 02 6394922 P.O.Box 2727, Abu Dhabi
Salah Mahid Branch Manager
National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain
Royal Bank of Canada
History: Established in 1982
24/7 Call Centre Number: 600 56 56 56 Dubai Representative Office Tel 04 3313196
E-mail: nbuq@nbq.ae Website: www.nbq.ae API World Tower, Suite 1002, Shk. Zayed Road, P.O. Box: 3614. Telefax 04 3313960
Sh. Nasser Bin Rashid Al-Moalla Managing Director Umaima Zaman senior manager
Mohamed Abdel Rahim Al Mulla General Manager Ashwani.k.Dewitt senior manager
Global Private Banking
Umm Al Qaiwain Branch Tel: 06 7066666 Ashish Anand Chief Representative
NBQ Building, King Faisal Street Fax: 06 706 6677

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 69

 RAK Bank Regional Hub for UAE and Middle East Tel: 04 3512200
P.O. Box: 2567, Khalid bin Waleed Street, Dubai, UAE Fax: 04 3511555
Ras Al Khaimah Phone Banking: 04 4266000
Head Office, Oman Street, Al Nakheel Tel 07 2281127 Dubai Branch:
P.O. Box 5300 Fax 07 2283238 Simon Penney Country Executive 04 5062601
E-mail: nbrakho@emirates.net.ae; www.rakbank.ae Burhan Khan Head of Regional Markets 04 5062801
History: Established in 1976 as The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah. In 2003,
name was changed to RAKBANK Abu Dhabi Tel: 02 6963000
Corner of Hamdan and Salam Streets Fax: 02 6963001
H.E. Sheikh Omar Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Chairman P.O. Box: 2720, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
H.E. Sheikh Salim Bin Sultan-Al-Qasimi Director
Mr. Hamad Abdulaziz Al Sagar Director Sharjah Tel: 06 5594900
Mr. Essa Ahmed Abu Shuraija Al Neaimi Director Abdul Aziz Al Majid Building, King Faisal Street Fax: 02 6963001
Mr. Majid Saif Al Ghurair Director P.O. Box: 1971, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Mr. Ali Samir Al Shihabi Director
Mr. Yousuf Obaid Essa Director
Mr. Graham Honeybill General Manager Sharjah Islamic Bank
Mr. Ian Hodges Head of Personal Banking
Mr. Anil Sukhia Head of Corporate Banking Mohammed Abdalla Chief Executive Officer 06-5115116
Mr. Steve O Hanlon Chief Operating Officer Ahmed Saad ibrahim Chief Operating Officer 06-5115118
Mr. Kunal Chowdry Head of Internal Controls Mohammed Rizwan Chief Risk Officer 06-5115172
Mr. Jose Braganza Head of Credit Saeed M Ahmed Al Amiri Head, Investment Group 06-5115000
Mr. Malcolm D’Souza Head of Treasury Ossama Salah El Din Head, Retail Banking 06-5115339
Mr. Ramakrishna K S Head of Audit G . Ramkirshinan Head of Coroprate Banking Group 06-5115111
Mrs. Susan Gardner Head of Human Resources Hussam A. Abu Aisheh SVP-Chief Internal Audit 06-5115153
Mr. Dharmesh Pandya Head of Finance Mohammed Ishaq Chief Dealer 06-5115151
Dubai Mohamed Azmeer Head of Credit Division 06-5115319
Deira Maktoum Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Eman Jasim Sajwani Head of Human Resources Group 06-5115170
Gold Souk Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Myron Britto Head, nformation Technology Div.-CIO 06-5115444
Umm Hurair Branch (Bur Dubai) Tel : 04-2248000 Sufyan Maysara Head of Shariaa Supervision Divison 06-5115213
Oud Metha ( Dubai Main Branch) Tel : 04-2248000 Branches
Sheikh Zayed Road Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Main Branch - Al Brooj Avenue Mohammed Yousif 06-5115121
Emaar Business Park Branch Tel : 04-2248000 King Faisal Street Branch Abdul Salam Al Ali 06-5746805
Marina Diamond Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Ladies Branch Laila Ali Salem 06-5746807
Al Quoz Branch Tel : 04-2248000 American Unversity Branch Mohd Mousa Ali 06-5585789
Ibn Battuta Mall Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Al Dhaid Branch Khalid M. Ajmani 06-8829414
Mirdiff Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Industrial Area Branch Waleed Abdul Qadir 06-5397623
Al Qusais Branch Tel : 04-2248000 Sharjah Expo Branch Jassim Al Awadi 06-5992502
Sharjah Sharjah Buhaira Branch Osama Ahmed AlSalman N/A
Sharjah Main Branch Tel : 06-5988020 Khorfakhan Branch Yousif M. Abdullah 09-2387490
Sharjah Industrial Area Tel : 06-5988200 Dibba Branch Ali Al-Abdouli 09-2442601
Ajman Kalba Branch Abdullah Bin Hikal 09-2774204
Ajman Branch Tel : 06-5988266 Fujairah Branch Nawal Mohamed AlMaghribi 09-2244339
East Coast Dubai Branch Mohamed Ibrahim Alghufili 04-2698322
Kalba Branch Tel : 09-2039500 Sheikh Zayed Branch Maisoon Zainudin 04-3217543
Khorafakkan Branch Tel : 09-2039550 Al Twar Branch Maha AlBanna 04-2638335
Al Ain Abu Dhabi Branch Thomas P.Y. 02-6224166
Al Ain Branch Tel : 03-7029000 Al Ain Branch Majid Sha’abaan 03-7513200
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi-Tourist Club Branch Tel : 02-4127100 Shuaa Capital PSC
Khalidiya Branch Tel : 02-4127600
Mussafah Branch Tel : 02-4127300 Head Office Tel: 04 3303600/ 04 3199778
Ras Al Khaimah Emirates Towers Hotel, Level 7 Fax: 04 3303550
RAK Town Branch Tel : 07-2062211 P.O. Box: 31045, Dubai, UAE.
Sha’am Branch Tel : 07-2062333 Website: www.shuaacapital.com
Badr Branch Tel : 07-2062411 Iyad Duwaji CEO
Al Manael Branch Tel : 04-2913964 Abeer Ayash Marketing and PR coordinator
Al Rams Branch Tel : 07-2062366
Al Dhait Branch Tel : 07-2062266
Al Nakheel Branch Tel : 07-2062222 Societe Generale
Dubai
The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. DIFC Gate Village, Bldg. 6, 4th Floor Tel.: 04 4257500
Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Fax: 04 3653170
Head Office: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Dubai Branch,

70 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010

Website: www.socgen.com Roger Leitner Senior Representative
Alain L. Tave Chief Regional Representative
Dubai
Creek Tower, Office 17A, Baniyas Road, Deira 04 2240044
Standard Bank Plc - Dubai Branch (DIFC) Peter Schaer Senior Representative 04 2220006

Dubai DIFC
Emirates Tower, Office-16 B Tel 04 3300011 Gate Village, Bldg. No. 6, 5th Floor Tel.: 04 3657150
P.O. Box 504904 Fax 04 3300169 Sheikh Zayed Road Fax: 04 3657191
Website: www.standardbank.com P.O Box 506542
Jeffrey Rhodes General Manager 04 3300164 Per Larsson Senior Representative
Kate Lunjevich Head of Compliance & Operations

Standard Chartered Bank Union National Bank

Head Office: United Kingdom Abu Dhabi Tel 02 6741600

Dubai Main Branch Tel 04 3520455
Head Office: Al Fardan Building, Fax 04 3528648
Mankhool Road, Bur Dubai
P.O. Box: 999, Dubai - United Arab Emirates Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan Chairman
www.standardchartered.ae
Phone Banking: 600 522 288 (24 hours)
Dubai Branch City Centre 02 627 3471
P. O. Box 999, Al Mankool Road, Dubai , UAE 04-3520455
Deira Branch
P. O. Box 1125, Baniyas Square, Dubai, 04-5085300
Al Ras Souq Branch
P. O. Box 64555, Al Ras Souq, Dubai , UAE 04-5085366
Dubai Mall Branch
P. O. Box 127899, LG level, Dubai, UAE 04-5085753
Emaar Business Park Branch
P. O. Box 103669,Building 3, Dubai, UAE 04-5085255
Jebel Ali Branch
P. O. Box 16920 , Downtown Jebel Ali, Dubai , UAE 04-5085200
Dragon Mart Branch
P. O. Box 4166, Dragon Mart mall, Dubai, UAE 04-5085260
Al Ain Branch
P. O. Box 1240, Near Clock Tower, Al Ain, UAE 03-7056800
Khalidiya Branch
P. O. Box 241, Crystal Tower, Abu Dhabi, UAE 02-6165600
Sharjah Branch
P. O. Box 5, Al Boorj Avenue, Sharjah , UAE 06-5916100
Head Office, Salam Street, P.O.Box 3865, Abu Dhabi Fax 02 6786080
Website: www.unb.ae
History: Established as a Public Joint Stock Company in 1982
Mohammad Nasr Abdeen Chief Executive Officer
Abu Dhabi Corniche 02 632 1600
Najda 02 632 4981
Hazzaa 02 641 2288
Khalidiya 02 635 2511
Adgas Booth 02 627 0611
Musaffah 02 555 9111
Shahama 02 563 4600
Baneyas 02 582 1886
Al Dhafra/Madinat Zayed 08 884 8484
Al Muroor 02 444 8384
Al Ain
Sh. Khalifa Street 03 7644551
Al Jimi 03 7626240
Dubai
Main Branch, Deira 04 2211188
Al Maktoum Street 04 2232266
Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road 04 3516444
Al Bustan 04 2636388
Jebel Ali 04 8810999
Sheikh Zayed Road/Jumeira 04 3329911
Rashidiya 04 2857686

Ajman Central - Emirates Post 06 7425552

The Housing Bank for Trade & Finance
Fujairah 09 2222747
Ras Al Khaimah 07 2286600
Abu Dhabi
Sharjah 06 5686141
P.O. Box 44768 Tel 02 6268855/6270280
King Abdul Aziz 06 5746161
Fax 02 6271771
Muhanad Habashneh Representative
United Arab Bank
Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises UBAF
General Management & H.O. Tel 06 5733900
Dubai Sh. Abdulla Bin Salim Al Qassimi Building, Al Qasimia St., Sharjah Fax 06 5733906
Creek Tower, Baniyas Road, Deira E-Mail Address uarbae@emirates.net.ae
Tel 04 2284080 Website www.uab.ae
P.O. Box 29885 Fax 04 2284070 History: Established 1975
Hamed Hassouna Chief Representative GCC & Yemen
Bertrand Giraud General Manager 06 5733900
UBS AG Awni Alami Dy. General Manager 06 5733900
Gibert Hie Asst. GM-Corporate & Retail 06 5733900
Abu Dhabi Arif Premdjee Asst. GM-Admin. & Finance 06 5733900
ADNIC Bldg., 5th Floor, Sh. Khalifa Street Tel 02 6275024
P.O.Box 3744 Fax 02 6272752
Website: www.ubs.com

BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010 71

 United Bank Limited Wachovia Bank National Assoc.
Dubai Representative Office Dubai
Gargosh Bldg, Khalid Bin Waleed Street Tel 04 3552020 The Atrium Centre, Khalid Bin Waleed Street, Bur Dubai 04 3556244
P.O. Box 1367, Dubai Fax 04 3514525 P.O. Box 53089 Fax 3557117
Email: ublgmuae@emirates.net.ae Head Office: USA
Website: www.ubl.com.pk J.Kennedy Thompson Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Wajahat Husain Head of Middle East Michael P. Heavener International Division
Maruf Ahmed General Manager UAE Dubai Branch:
Chafic Haddad Vice President & Regional Manager
Carol Hampson Customer Services Representative

64 BANKING AND BUSINESS REVIEW May 2010