An impediment to private enterprise and a major risk for banks has been the lack of a viable insolvency law. Ironically, UAE, which is an important international financial and business hub, has functioned without effective insolvency laws, which hurt its international reputation, Gulf News reported in an analysis. Prior to the global financial crisis of 2008, business failures were dealt with in an ad hoc manner and conflicts, when they rose, were often resolved through informal arrangements, facilitated by external negotiators.

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn tens of billions of dollars from global asset managers as the oil-rich kingdom seeks to cut its widening deficit and reduce exposure to volatile equities markets amid the sustained slump in oil prices, the Financial Times reported. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s foreign reserves have slumped by nearly $73bn since oil prices started to decline last year as the kingdom keeps spending to sustain the economy and fund its military campaign in Yemen.

Indebted Kuwaiti financial firm Investment Dar is seeking court approval to help close a 813 million dinar ($2.7 billion) debt restructuring, according to an official document seen by Reuters. The new plan, called Dasman, is designed to overcome minority creditor dissent to earlier proposals by asking Kuwait's Court of Appeal to impose the deal on all creditors. The plan involves transferring Investment Dar's assets, and the management of their disposal, directly to creditors.

Fahad Al Raqbani, director general of Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, said that the long-awaited insolvency law in the United Arab Emirates is expected to contain provisions for corporate bankruptcy modeled on U.S. chapter 11 proceedings, The National reported yesterday. “Many companies in the US undergo Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then gain in momentum,” Raqbani said. “A given project may be successful, but also need restructuring.” The insolvency law was passed by the Cabinet in July.

Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd said on Wednesday (Aug 26) that it strongly denies that Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) is considering pulling out of a plan to help restructure 1MDB's debts. "We in fact confirm that 1MDB remains engaged in discussions with IPIC, to conclude the transaction per the terms as officially announced by IPIC to the London Stock Exchange on 10 June 2015," it said in a statement.

A Geneva prosecutor has closed a six-year investigation into a criminal complaint by Saudi Arabia's Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) against Maan al-Sanea and two units of his Saad Group, the prosecutor's office told Reuters. Family conglomerate AHAB and separate Saudi business empire Saad Group collapsed in 2009 and have since been battling in multiple jurisdictions over who was to blame for the issues which affected their respective groups, including the default on bank debts worth billions of dollars.

Oil producer Afren Plc said its board had decided to put the company into administration as it failed to secure support for a vital refinancing and restructuring plan, Reuters reported. Afren said earlier this month talks with bondholders, banks and its partners were scuppered after the company cut its production forecast for the year earlier this month. Its shares were suspended on the same day.

Dubai-based real estate agency S&K Estate Agents said a deteriorating property market in the emirate contributed to its decision to file for bankruptcy and be liquidated, Reuters reported. "Simply put, the revenue being generated by the business drastically reduced over the first half of 2015, without enough income to cover operational costs," S&K said in an emailed statement released through a public relations firm. The company said its reputation had suffered from client complaints and a recruitment drive did not yield results quickly enough to save the business.

It is one of the cheapest places on earth to drill for oil — but also among the most dangerous. And, right now, Kurdistan’s intrepid band of western operators are sweating. Tumbling oil prices and a dispute over crude sales between war-torn Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdish administration have left three foreign operators — Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone Petroleum and DNO — owed hundreds of millions of dollars.

Drydocks World has called in the American financial group Citibank to help it refinance its US$2.3 billion of debt, The National reported. DDW, under the chairmanship of Abdulrahman Al Saleh, the director general of the Dubai Department of Finance, has hired the restructuring advisers at Citi’s Middle East unit, which is based in the emirate, to seek a better deal from its creditors. The marine engineering group, part of the Dubai World conglomerate, sealed a deal in 2012 to push back maturities on $2.3bn in two tranches.