BankMuscat is the first bank from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to have its GDRs listed on the LSE. Strong response from fund managers and financial institutions from across the world allowed the GDR offering to be increased to $163m.
BankMuscat chairman Sheikh AbdulMalik bin Abdullah Al Khalili (pictured third from right) said: “Our decision to list on the LSE reflects our desire to attract a broad international investor base. We will use this new capital to finance domestic growth and consolidation of our international expansion.”
He said he hoped to expand into Saudi Arabia next year. He has applied for licences in both Kuwait and Qatar, and is expanding in India through the bank’s 25% stake in Centurion Bank of the Punjab. With operations in Bahrain and the setting up of a finance company in Dubai, he said: “We are planning to be the number one bank in the region by 2010.”
EU internal market commissioner Charlie McGreevy is making his voice heard from Brussels. Defending the introduction of new accounting standards across the EU, he recognised that the move to the new system was difficult and expensive, but reassured IFRS critics that the pain would be worth the gain. In September, the former Irish finance minister also talked about the need to cut securities dealing costs. Unless exchanges act to improve the current system, he warned, there would be legislation to allow more fluid connections between them.
| Hugh Scott-Barrett has been appointed chief financial officer at Dutch bank ABN AMRO to succeed Tom de Swaan, who retires next year. Currently chief operating officer, Mr Scott-Barrett takes up his new post in January. The appointment comes as ABN is restructuring its business units (which the recently acquired Italian Antonveneta will join after being fully integrated). Mr Scott-Barrett, originally from the UK, is the most senior non-Dutch executive and his appointment highlights the increased mobility of senior executives in European banks. |
Sir John puts testing times behind him
Sir John Gieve, permanent secretary at the Home Office, has been appointed the new deputy governor of the Bank of England.
He has worked in the civil service since 1974 and took up his current post in 2001, following an extensive stint at the Treasury.
Describing his time in Whitehall as the most testing of his life, Sir John has made no secret of how tough it was to work for Home Office minister David Blunkett.
When he takes up his new post at the Bank in January, Sir John (55) will join the interest-rate committee. This involves taking charge of the financial stability side of the Bank’s operations, dealing with regulation and getting an international perspective on financial markets – a piece of cake after working for Mr Blunkett, some might say.
