UAE consolidation: Home grown

The Gulf needs its own financial giants. The global liquidity squeeze should trigger a long over-due wave of consolidation amongst the region’s local fragmented banks and property lenders. Bigger banks would better meet the Gulf’s own financing needs and reduce the region’s dependence on foreign banks. On the whole, Gulf banks are less leveraged and better capitalised than their Western counterparts. The 23 local banks in the United Arab Emirates have an average 107% loan to deposit ratio, and a...