2006

The banking world was rocked in early 2000 when the Basel II Capital Accord came out with its first draft. This accord emanated from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), …

In February 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, visited Tehran and met with Iran’s president, Ali Akhbar Rafsanjani. Neighboring Iraq figured high in the conversation. The US and its …

The Middle East continues to experience unprecedented interest in alternative investments as regional institutional investment in hedge funds is expected to surge to $140 billion, or 14% of the total …

A decision by Saudi authorities to put a temporary halt to licensing of new foreign banks until the country completed an evaluation process for those issued in the past few …

In December, Bahrain became the latest country to offer the Islamic Financial Qualification (IFQ), which was launched two months earlier in London as a joint venture between the British Securities …

After several years of sluggish turnover, the global luxury industry roared into life in 2006, with worldwide sales reaching a hefty $150 billion. A testament to the industry’s revival is …

Damage to Lebanon’s ecology and agriculture due to the war with Israel amounts to over $400 million, according to research by Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) and a recently published …

While the consensus of stock market analysts at the end of a harsh 2006 was an uncertainty if those erratic equity markets – mainly those in the Gulf Cooperation Council …

Be careful what you wish for. President George W. Bush and his close circle of neoconservatives wanted regime change … and they got it. Okay, it was not exactly what …

The ultra rich—those who hold more than $30 million each—have increased their assets by 8.5% to $33.3 trillion in 2005 from $30.7 trillion in 2004, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said …