Word: dubai
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Perhaps Citi should have slept on Dubai. A year and a half ago, Citigroup became the first U.S. bank to relocate one of its rising stars, Alberto Verme, an investment banking executive, to the booming gulf state. At the time, Citi CEO Vikram Pandit said the move was a sign that the bank was "convinced of the region's long-term and immense growth opportunities...
...though he has been promoted to ceo of all Citi's business lines across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Citi stresses he is "one of its highest ranking executives globally"). Mohammed al-Shroogi, who headed Citi's United Arab Emirates operations, left in September. In late November, Dubai World, which is a for-profit development company controlled by the ruling family of the gulf state, indicated that it may have to default on a portion of its $60 billion in loans. The rush to Dubai has left Citi on the hook for billions of dollars of losses...
...sure, Citi's potential losses in Dubai are not enough to bring down the bank. Citi has $2 trillion in assets. And the Dubai losses look puny compared to huge hits the bank took in subprime lending and the mortgage market in general. But Citi was far more aggressive in courting Dubai business and left itself open to far more losses in what now seems was a financial house of cards than any other U.S. bank. JPMorgan, the U.S. bank with the next highest loan exposure to Dubai, has $2.5 billion in loans outstanding in the U.A.E., according to Creditsights...
...largest bank. It's also likely a black eye for Citi as it tries to convince the U.S. government that is wealthy and wise enough to pay back its government support. And unlike the mortgage mistakes, which can be blamed on past management, the rush to profits in Dubai happened under CEO Pandit...
...Dubai's heavily leveraged business ventures couldn't withstand the ever souring economy. In 2008, real estate prices dropped 50%; new construction all but stopped. Sheik Mohammed has downplayed the rising debt, which some estimate to be more than 100% of GDP. Despite a $15 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi, the bills are still mounting. Unless they're paid off, it looks as if Dubai's vision of becoming a desert Singapore may be just a mirage...