ICJ issues ‘provisional measures’ in Qatar government case

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday narrowly recommended three “provisional measures” requested by Doha that the UAE says it is already adhering to, while rejecting six others, as the court considers in full a case filed by Qatar based on allegations of discrimination.

In June, Doha filed a complaint in the ICJ that alleged the UAE’s boycott of the country – alongside Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt – for its support of terror groups and militant factions violated the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both countries are signatories.

Qatar requested nine provincial measures in its complaint, the court only recommended three of those in Monday's ruling. Wam news agency said the ruling showed that the measures sought by Qatar are "without a valid basis and were unsupported by evidence".

In a statement, the UAE reiterated its position that its actions are directed at the Qatari government and not the Qatari people.

"We urge Qatar to constructively engage on the requests made by the UAE and other countries for Qatar to comply with its international obligations. The UAE reiterates that it will continue to welcome Qatari citizens into its territory, as affirmed in the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on July 5th, 2018," the statement added.

Qatar had asked the court to hand down provisional measures against the alleged discrimination. The court voted 8-7 in favour of three provisional measures but the case is still being considering and the measures do not represent a final ruling.

The first was to ensure that any Qataris separated from their families be reunited with their relatives, the second was that Qatari students be able to resume their education in the UAE or obtain their educational records if they wish to continue their studies elsewhere. The third was that Qataris should be allowed to access tribunals and other judicial organs of the UAE.

The court chose to issue a fourth provisional measure, voted in favour by 11 votes to four, that said “both parties shall refrain from any action that might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve”.

The UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash tweeted after the ruling that the “judges refused the Qatari requests”.

Of the three provisional measures, he said “the UAE has started to implement based on its national standards, after the four countries took measures against Doha”.

No state that has had such interim measures handed down have ever complied with them. It remains unclear what the sanctions for not adhering to the measures are, or if the measures are legally binding.

On June 5, 2017, the UAE and the three other countries imposed a trade and travel ban on Qatar for its support of Al Qaeda, the Nusra Front, ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as militia groups in Somalia, Libya and Syria.

The UAE denies that it has discriminated against Qatari citizens and had submitted evidence to counter Doha’s allegations of discrimination against ordinary Qataris.

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Arab ambassadors’ letter warn on Qatar terror impunity

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Official figures provided to the court had shown that as of mid-June this year there were 2,194 Qataris in the UAE, "a number that is not substantially different than the number as at June 5, 2017”.

Qataris are free to transfer money both from and to the UAE.

In June, UAE ambassador to the Netherlands Saeed Al Nowais told the court that the Qatari people “have no responsibility for the dangerous policies of their government” and thus tried to minimise the boycott’s impact on ordinary people.

"The reality is that the present crisis was caused by Qatar’s own unlawful conduct and the solution is largely within Qatar’s hands. Qatar must, in accordance with its international obligations, stop harbouring and supporting terrorist groups and individuals," the ambassador said.

"Our government has asked Qatar time and again to cease this conduct. Although Qatar repeatedly committed to do so, it has failed to live up to its commitments."

The UAE presented evidence that Qatari citizens have continued to enjoy access to their assets and investments in the UAE since June 2017, including copies of commercial licences issued to Qatari companies since crisis began.

The evidence also showed that Qataris in the UAE continued to have unfettered access to health care, including under the government’s Daman UAE health insurance scheme, news agency Wam reported.

The next step of the process will see judges decide the final ruling in the case.

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UAE tour of Zimbabwe

All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
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Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I

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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”