Bahrain Bourse, which had a market capitalisation of 7.4 billion dinars ($19.7 billion) as of December 10, expects two initial public offerings next year and more listings of real estate investment trust (Reits), its chief executive said.
“The bourse has continued to be resilient despite macroeconomic challenges," Shaikh Khalifa Al Khalifa said. "The reason was positive financial results from listed companies.”
There is also expected growth in fixed income issuances and Reits – one Reit listing is expected in Bahrain in the first half of next year, he said.
The dearth of IPO activity on the Bahrain bourse was due to lack of "global outreach," he said.
“We haven’t done enough and will do more of this in 2018,” Mr Al Khalifa said.
Eskan Bank Realty Income Trust (ERIT), the bourse's only Reit, listed in the fourth quarter of 2016, raising US$36.6 million.
IPO activity has been stagnant in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) with only a few listings taking place due to weak investment sentiment. The region, however, saw five IPOs in the third quarter of 2017 – a 400 per cent increase when compared to the single IPO recorded in the same quarter last year, according to a report from consultancy EY released on Sunday.
The exchange is also in talks with other Arabian Gulf stock exchanges on plans for a pilot blockchain project that would enable cross-border trading.
"We are discussing this with some of the other exchanges but plans are still in the very early stages," said Mr Al Khalifa.
Bahrain, the smallest GCC state, has ambitions to become the ‘fintech’ hub of the Middle East and is looking to pioneering technologies to future-proof its capital markets and financial services sectors.
Mr Al Khalifa said the bourse hoped to use distributed ledger platform blockchain to enable investors to trade stocks listed on any of GCC exchanges. The move is in part a counter to the rising practice of companies cross-listing on various exchanges, which erodes individual bourses’ competitiveness, according to the chief executive.
“I hope that trend [of cross listing] will not continue,” he said. “Cross listing for the short term is beneficial for the company, but I think the solutions linked to fintech would be to link all the front end applications together so it becomes seamless for any investor to trade in any market anyway.
“This is vital for capital markets to pursue because there is so much competition [in the form of] other sources of fundraising popping up all over the world. Capital markets need to embrace fintech solutions and open their doors – if not at the exchange level, then at least for the brokers who deal directly with investors.”
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Read More:
Central Bank of Bahrain moves to lift restriction on trading in real estate investment trusts
Bahrain banks launch R&D firm to drive growth of Islamic fintech
Islamic banks should embrace, not fear, disruption from fintech
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Blockchain, which underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is an electronic transaction-processing and archive system that allows parties to track information securely with no need for third-party verification.
Under the proposed initiative, blockchain could be deployed to provide a shared ledger system across countries’ central securities depositories and clearing houses, Mr Khalifa said.
“To put in layman’s terms, an investor in Saudi that has an investor account – his account should be as a passport that he can use on any platform with any brokers and the broker can access any GCC country and therefore you will no longer need to cross-list any company.
“All the investor has to do is click on a drop-down menu, choose the country and the company and start buying. Fintech and blockchain makes this a much more viable solution and we are working heavily on this because we understand the need to get ready for the fintech revolution in the financial industry,” he said.
Bahrain Bourse also plans to introduce an ‘e-IPO’ platform next year that would simplify and reduce the cost of listing by removing the need for a syndicate of banks and a manual book-building process.
“The fee structure keeps going up and up,” Mr Al Khalifa said. “I think that removing this system completely and providing a cloud-based platform for investors to join is vital and this is something we are launching in 2018.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
THE BIO: Mohammed Ashiq Ali
Proudest achievement: “I came to a new country and started this shop”
Favourite TV programme: the news
Favourite place in Dubai: Al Fahidi. “They started the metro in 2009 and I didn’t take it yet.”
Family: six sons in Dubai and a daughter in Faisalabad
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The biog
Name: Shamsa Hassan Safar
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Degree in emergency medical services at Higher Colleges of Technology
Favourite book: Between two hearts- Arabic novels
Favourite music: Mohammed Abdu and modern Arabic songs
Favourite way to spend time off: Family visits and spending time with friends
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
