In a bourse filing, Emirates NBD revealed that discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty that any transaction will be completed.

Earlier this month, Blom Bank revealed that it was considering several strategic options, including a sale of its stake in Blom Bank Egypt in response to the depressed outlook for Lebanon’s domestic banking industry.

According to its website Blom’s Egypt unit has 42 branches and is active in retail and corporate banking.

Last month, Emirates NBD, which is Dubai’s biggest bank announced its financials for the second quarter. According to the bank, it recorded a 58 percent drop in profits in the second quarter of 2020.

The bank is expected to let go many of its employees as it prepares to deal with the Covi-19 crisis which has pushed the global economy into a recession.

This is mainly due to the fact that the bank has set aside $1.1 billion to cover bad loans which are anticipated to increase amid the coronavirus pandemic. North Carolina-based Bank of America has acquired a 1.51 percent stake in Emirates NBD-Dubai’s largest bank, the media reported.

In the month of June, Bank of America acquired its stakes in Emirates NBD in a deal that is worth Dh900 million.

According to the deal, Bank of America bought around 100 million shares of Emirates NBD.

Emirates NBD posted a net profit of around Dh14.5 billion and total assets in excess of Dh683 billion in 2019.

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Bank of America acquired its stakes in Emirates NBD in a deal that is expected to be worth Dh900 million.

According to the deal, Bank of America bought around 100 million shares of Emirates NBD.

Emirates NBD posted a net profit of around Dh14.5 billion and total assets in excess of Dh683 billion in 2019.

Earlier this year, Emirates NBD launched the Mastercard World Switch Card using switch technology — a first in the Middle East and North Africa. The World Switch Card provides customers with both credit and debit card functions with the push of a button. The World Switch Card will be available to the bank’s major customers prior to the general public.

The World Switch Card was announced at a ceremony hosted last November by Emirates NBD Egypt in Cairo. The ceremony was attended by major account holders, official delegates from corporations, and a few distinguished public figures.

In January, Emirates NBD also entered into a partnership with the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) to emerge as a trust account representative offering banking services for properties that are jointly controlled.

Emirates NBD’s move to offer trust account services is based on the latest law that was initiated in September last year. The main objective of forging the collaboration is to develop healthy competition and increase investment into real estate.

In doing so, Emirates NBD has emerged as the first bank in the region to team up with RERA after the inception of the law on jointly owned properties came into being.

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Emirates NBD will offer 758.8 million shares at Dh8.5 each and a premium of Dh7.50 per new share, the bank said in a statement.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, vice-chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD told the media, “This milestone announcement is a testament to our long-term commitment to our shareholders and the UAE investor community. We are pleased to offer our valued and loyal shareholders an exceptional opportunity to participate in our continued growth and success as we remain key partners to the growth agenda and vision of our nation’s esteemed leadership.”

The Board of Directors of Emirates NBD approved the bank’s decision to raise funds from a rights issue on October 15, 2019. The bank also has clearance from the UAE Security and Commodities Authority and the UAE Central Bank.

The bank has appointed Emirates NBD Capital as lead manager and also bookrunners with regard to the rights issue.

Last month, Emirates NBD also raised the cap on foreign ownership in the bank from 5 percent to 20 percent. The bank is further increasing the cap to 40 percent after discussions with its shareholders.

Recently, Emirates NBD signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Dubai chamber of commerce and industry to provide trade finance solutions for the Digital Silk Road project.

This follows the bank’s announcement of its new supply chain and trade finance portal which will enable the bank’s clients to apply for loans digitally.

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“Emirates NBD’s latest 10.5 percent stake sale in Network International is credit positive because the realised gains will increase its 2019 profitability and capitalisation, providing an additional buffer to absorb the sizeable capital consumption from its acquisition of Turkey-based Denizbank completed on July 31,” Analyst at Moody’s, Mik Kabeya told the media.

He added, “We estimate that Emirates NBD’s realised gains from the Network International transaction will be around Dh998.8 million, which equates to around 10 percent of its 2018 profit or 0.2 percent of tangible assets at the end of 2018.”

In April, the Emirates NBD sold a 28.6 percent stake in Network International. Prior to this stake sale, Emirates NBD owned a 51 percent stake in the digital payments company.

Emirates NBD, which is Dubai’s biggest bank, will soon roll out voice banking by collaborating with Amazon Web Services. The bank’s customers will be able to ask their Amazon Alexa devices for banking updates such as account balances.

Emirates NBD will use Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence, cloud computing services, and other technologies to improve customer engagement and simplifying banking.

This could be a significant step for the bank’s digitalisation push. In 2017, the bank announced that it will spend around Dh1 billion in the next three years on digitalisation.

Earlier this month, the bank also raised the cap on foreign ownership from 5 percent to 20 percent to attract more investors. The bank plans to further raise the cap after seeking approval from its shareholders.

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