Syrian IPOs ready to go with potential for banks

largely thanks to the legacy of the elder Assad, Syria has very limited opportunities for private investment and the vast majority of interests are publicly owned. The absence of a stock exchange means that many larger Syrian investors often choose real estate as an investment destination—which partly explains why real estate is disproportionately expensive in Damascus compared to most other commodities.Despite the fact that Syria is generally considered to be a poor economy, there are a large number of wealthy expatriates, many of who fled after or during the Baathist revolution. According to one estimate, expatriate Syrian wealth is thought to be larger than that of the Lebanese and, one source says, reaches over $70 billion. There is, therefore, significant potential for greater private investment both from inside and outside the country. This helps to explain why the recent IPOs in Syria have been so hugely oversubscribed by Syrian nationals.In