The latest Iraq financial and banking news including Dinar, Investment Oppportunities, Funds news and more.
On June 7, HSBC announced that it would be subscribing in full to Dar Es Salam Bank’s (BDSI) 46.9% rights issue. The “world’s local bank” will be buying 23.7 bn new BDSI shares at IQD 1 each for the equivalent of about US$ 20.3 mn. (See this link for the announcement .) The HSBC subscription […]
In March ISX-listed Qimma Financial Investment (VQUF) announced that Warka Bank’s majority shareholder, Saad Al Bunnia, had appointed it to “begin a formal auction process following a due diligence report carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers.” The announcement, which was posted on Qimma’s website, went on to say that Mr. Bunnia was “interested in entertaining […]
Private banking reform is needed in Iraq, but iPhones may help. Abu Talib Al-Hashimi, chairman of Gulf Commercial Bank, is critical of the state stranglehold on banking in Iraq, reports Aswat Al-Iraq. By holding government deposits at government banks only, "This situation made the private sector banking system paralyzed and lacking its flexibility as private […]
May 12 was the last day of trading for Mosul Bank (BMFI) ahead of its proposed merger with Union Bank (BUOI). The stock closed up 7% bringing its year-to-date gain to 29%. BUOI ended the day unchanged and is up only 12% year-to-date. While the deal is being described as a merger, it would in […]
By the end of next month, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) is requiring all private-sector banks to increase capital to IQD 100 bn. The banks were originally supposed to have reached this target by the end of last year but so few could have managed it that the CBI had to give them an […]
Fans of the “rockumentary” This is Spinal Tap will recall the scene where the band’s guitarist explains that his amplifiers are louder because their volume knobs “go to eleven.” When asked why this is different from having ten as the highest setting, he simply repeats “these go to eleven.” Most of us have no trouble […]
On March 11, Rabee Securities came out with the first-ever sector report on ISX-listed companies. The report, which could be thought of as something of a milestone for the Iraqi market, is on the banks—the most heavily weighted sector in terms of both trading volume and market cap. For me the main takeaway was that […]
By Tariq Abdell, Iraq’s political risk analyst, and Founder & CEO of Mesopotamia Insight. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In light of ongoing socio-political changes in MENA region, Iraq's massive protests, from Zakho to al-Faw, accentuate the political astuteness and […]
By Tariq Abdell, Iraq's political risk analyst, and Founder & CEO of Mesopotamia Insight. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As Iraq-business news celebrates its one year anniversary, MENA region is witnessing a fundamental political upheavals and changes, costing Mubarak of […]
With a year-to-date return of 14.6% as of February 7, the Rabee Securities RSISX index is the region’s second best performer so far this year. Only Iran’s TEPIX index, up 16.4%, did better. Regional stock markets have generally mirrored the lackluster performance of the Morgan Stanley global emerging markets index, which is down 1.8% year-to-date. […]
Last week the federal supreme court ruled in favor of the government's request to have the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), along with the Independent High Electoral Commission, the Integrity Commission, and the High Commission for Human Rights, put under the supervision of the cabinet. This is bad news for the central bank. Up to […]
Warka’s moment of truth last Wednesday (Jan 19) turned out to be a nonevent. It seems the general assembly meeting had to be postponed for a week due to lack of a quorum. To put it another way, the chairman, who holds 60% of the stock, didn’t show up. (See my last post for more […]
