DUBAI: Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum issued a new insolvency law on Tuesday for companies operating in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the largest financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
The new law, due to come into effect in August, has been issued following the collapse of Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj, which had a DIFC-regulated entity Abraaj Capital.
The firm that had been the Middle East and North Africa’s biggest buyout fund unraveled after a row with some investors over the use of money in a $1 billion health care fund.
The new law introduces a “new debtor in possession bankruptcy regime” for debtors that have filed for bankruptcy but still hold assets, according to a statement on the Dubai’s ruler official website.
Abraaj, its founder Arif Naqvi and a former executive are being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on US charges that they defrauded investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) said in April it was in touch with the SEC and had been investigating Abraaj Capital Ltd, an entity of the collapsed firm, over a range of matters but has not specified what they are.
Dubai issues new financial center insolvency law after Abraaj collapse
Dubai issues new financial center insolvency law after Abraaj collapse
- New procedures in line with global best practices introduced as a first for the region
- The new Insolvency Law and Regulations will come into effect on Aug. 28, 2019
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
