ME PoV Winter 2012 issue

About this issue

Having it, losing it, making it, saving it, borrowing it, lending it, spending it or even laundering it, these days “it’s all ‘bout the money” as Meja* said.

Not that money had not always been important, but as the financial crisis bares its claws and whole countries face financial ruin, the issue of money seems to permeate our very essence of being, crawling across every newspaper page and jumping out of every television screen and over all the radio waves.

Money is certainly a central theme in this issue of the Middle East Point of View.

Click the link on the left to access the Winter 2012 issue. Alternatively, you can read each article separately by clicking below.

The future of securitization

Funding has become an increasingly worrying topic for banks as they themselves struggle to obtain senior secured funding at reasonable prices since the credit market dislocation. With credit rating cuts causing spikes in credit default swaps and, ultimately, the increased cost of secured and unsecured borrowing, finding new sources of funding - or reviving old ones - has become a priority.

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Bridging the Gulf

There has been a significant amount of restructuring activity in the Gulf recently, accompanied by a change in the approach of many local banks to lending. Against this backdrop, a number of differences have emerged in the approaches to, and results from, restructuring processes in Europe and the Middle East.

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When white is too white

As money laundering schemes become more complex and sophisticated and the volume of such schemes continues to amplify, financial institutions are increasingly faced first, with the risks associated with money laundering, second, with the need to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations imposed by regulatory bodies and governments across the globe and ultimately, with the risk of becoming a sanctioned entity as a result of suspected intentional participation, or unintentional facilitation of money laundering.

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Making sense of social data

In 2010, Google’s Eric Schmidt said: “I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time.” He was referring to the fact that in the digital world, data is everywhere. We create it constantly, often without our knowledge or permission and with the bytes we leave behind, we leak information about our actions, whereabouts and characteristics.

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The eyes have it

The regional media industry remains in a phase of development, especially when considering the impact of social media during the Arab Spring. While public and private organizations have undoubtedly come a long way in the development of more sustainable media/telecommunications systems, thanks to better funding, better training and significant infrastructure investment, stimulating the production and monetization of local content in the Arab world remains a key regional challenge.

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Renewable energies

Recent discoveries of oil and gas fields in areas deemed as unconventional - such as the Mediterranean coast for example -have added impetus to the energy sector. However, traditional energy resources remain both, depleting and polluting and new sources of power generation that already exist, must be further developed. Alternative energy sources such as nuclear and renewable energies are the two probable solutions to our increasing energy needs.

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Lebanon: a veteran regional center for Islamic finance

The country has seen rapid and positive expansion of the Islamic banking sector. However, political unrest may reduce the flow of foreign investment and could affect the expansion of Islamic banking. Dr. Hatim El-Tahir shares his insight into the development of Islamic finance in the country.

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Sourcing options for Internal Audit services

Today’s dynamic business environment requires internal auditors to wear many hats and change them often. For internal auditors to deliver on their mandate and meet the expectations of oversight bodies, they need broader skill sets, the ability to add the most value and the flexibility to properly respond to changes caused by internal and external factors.

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