A study of rated Gulf banks by Standard and Poor’s analysts Emmanuel Volland and Mohammed Damak shows that the region’s banking sector has had a limited exposure to US subprime mortgage-related instruments. Executive interviewed Volland to assess his opinion of the study’s results. E Which banks did Standard and Poor’s select for the survey and what was their exposure to subprime mortgage-related instruments? We selected 20 of the largest banks in the Gulf region. Among those were the ones that have the largest subprime exposure. We came out with a figure of total exposure to subprime of less than 1% of total assets. At the time we did the survey, we did not include exposure to structured investment vehicles (SIVs). If you added the SIVs, the exposure would be higher. E How much higher? I would say it’s still below 2% of assets. Comparing exposure to assets is useful, but
