There is now a real anger among investors at the rolling daily crisis called Arabtec. It focuses on the apparent inability of the company or its owners to appreciate the damage that is being done to UAE markets, as well as the seeming powerlessness of the authorities to do anything to stop it.
The fury spreads from UAE retail investors who believed the Arabtec hype, to international investors newly tempted into UAE markets, to some policymakers, exasperated by the daily convulsions in the boardroom and on the trading floor.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is a serious risk the UAE’s financial markets are being brought into disrepute.
These are the questions irate investors are bellowing: what will happen to the 28 per cent of the company owned by Hasan Ismaik, the former chief executive? Is the ambitious strategy of global expansion he put in place still viable? Does Arabtec still have the backing of Abu Dhabi through Abaar? What will the fiasco mean for other companies, like Emaar, planning stock market listings? And what can be done to ensure this never happens again?
The Securities and Commodities Authority has been silent throughout. Insiders say the SCA is privately furious too, and wants to know who has been trading Arabtec shares like cheap stall trinkets over the past month. If it can find out the motives of these speculators, it might be able to prevent it in future.
The three UAE exchanges are anxiously concerned about the effect on their reputations, carefully honed for the MSCI upgrade and via investor roadshows in recent months. One plan being discussed is for a suspension of trading in Arabtec, followed by the establishment of a top-level inquiry to get to the truth – urgently.
That seems a sensible course of action. But little of the recent history of Arabtec has made any sense.
fkane@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @Ind_Insights
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Draw
Quarter-finals
Real Madrid (ESP) or Manchester City (ENG) v Juventus (ITA) or Lyon (FRA)
RB Leipzig (GER) v Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Barcelona (ESP) or Napoli (ITA) v Bayern Munich (GER) or Chelsea (ENG)
Atalanta (ITA) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Ties to be played August 12-15 in Lisbon
Company%20profile
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Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
