First Abu Dhabi Bank looked long and hard at Standard Chartered, and others will do the same so long as it’s cheap. But any suitor must win the approval of Temasek.

Banks in the Gulf are embracing blockchain, fintech, cryptocurrencies and AI as they look to cater to changing consumer demands and a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

The event was a showcase for both sustainability and trade agreements.

Investment banking underpinned a strong year for First Abu Dhabi Bank, as the UAE-based lender benefited from its long-standing investment in digital and led the way on a host of big-ticket capital market transactions.

Ahmed Abdelaal is the first non-Ghurair family member to lead Mashreq Bank. His first two Covid-marred years in charge as chief executive were a baptism of fire, but he has hired well and decisively, putting in place a cosmopolitan management team that is transforming the Dubai-based lender.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s latest annual report has some unusually precise detail in it. It tells us about positions, internal structures, use of external managers and views around infrastructure and private equity at one of the world’s most powerful institutional investors.

Ajmal Ahmady, governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, Afghanistan’s central bank, gives Euromoney the inside story on his escape from the stricken country.

The UAE was already a fintech pioneer but Covid turned it into a leader. Banks and government agencies are furiously rolling out blockchain-backed services that do everything from seamless KYC checks to detecting fraud in supply chain financing.

Outwardly different, Singapore and Dubai have transformed themselves into international wealth management hubs, overseen by clear-minded regulators. They are now starting to compete for business with Europe’s far older private wealth centres.

If you want to see what a strong economic and financial recovery might look like in 2021, you’ll find it in Dubai.

The pacts will normalise relations between Israel and the UAE, but it aims to do much more. The potential for regional détente and investment across real estate, energy and technology is great.

FAB’s status as a national champion means it is even better positioned after Covid-19 to facilitate regional growth.

Bankers see huge opportunities on both sides as Israel signs historic agreement with UAE and Bahrain.

The Covid-19 crisis will accelerate monetization in the Gulf and see Abu Dhabi companies take equity stakes in the emirate.

Dubai raises funding amid perfect storm of Covid-19, economic slowdown and falling oil prices.

Expo 2020 showcases economic and business opportunities in Dubai. Bankers hope it will lead to a boom in areas such as SME lending and infrastructure investment, but worry that a short-term lift will not be enough to dispel broader concerns about the country’s economy.

DP World is planning to delist from the Nasdaq Dubai in a move that directly contradicts the UAE’s efforts to improve liquidity and diversity in its domestic exchanges.

As birth rates fall and the UAE government looks at ways to spur population growth, private equity firms see opportunities in IVF.

A draft law in the United Arab Emirates will see more family-run corporates listing, while pension reforms will create a huge pool of investable assets.

Analysts think that FAB has the best potential platform of any bank in the region. Can its management deliver?

BayanPay, a digital payments company owned by London-listed Finablr, has received regulatory approval to operate its mobile money platform in Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom looks to a future without cash.

Funding for small and medium-sized businesses remains largely deficient across the Middle East. The region’s economies could grow by a further 1% each year if access to finance improved for SMEs, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde said earlier this year.

Perhaps the greatest sign that a merger has been successful is if it motivates others to follow suit. That has certainly been the case with the formation of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the Emirati financial institution which we recognise this year as having effected the best bank transformation across the Middle East.

The UAE’s largest bank is widely considered to have made a success of its merger and is now looking to realize its international potential.

FAB can become more than the sum of its parts, but there's a lot of work to do

Qatar’s financial sector might not be the only one to struggle under a blockade imposed on the country since June by a coalition of Middle Eastern states.

Dana Gas, an Emirati gas company, is using Shariah non-compliance as an argument in its sukuk restructuring talks. That remarkable move, if successful, could undermine the whole system of trust built around Islamic finance in the Middle East.