Liquidators for ES Bankers (Dubai) Ltd (ESBD) have estimated they will pay out 82.7 percent of the $93.5 million owed to depositors in the stricken bank, advisory firm Deloitte said on its website, Reuters reported. However, unsecured creditors of the Dubai arm of the Espirito Santo empire, which stumbled after accounting irregularities were identified at one of its holding companies earlier last year, will get none of the $14 million they are owed, the document added.

At the start of a new year, the UAE’s lawyers, bankers, small business owners and, indeed, government officials, are still waiting for the country’s new insolvency bus – sorry, law –to arrive. But the signs are that after many years of standing at the bus stop and waiting, the legislation is getting closer to becoming a reality, The National reported in a commentary.

Towards the end of last year, it was announced that the UAE’s long anticipated reform of the insolvency reform bill was reaching its final stages prior to implementation, Emirates 24/7 reported. The legal framework was drawn up following the establishment of the Dubai World Tribunal that resulted from its inability to pay its creditors in November 2009. The case cast spotlight on the UAE, which until today does not have an officially passed insolvency bill that helps local businesses as well as international investors.

Dubai government-owned property developer Limitless has secured the agreement of 85 percent of its creditors for a three-month extension to a debt repayment due at the end of 2014 and for a proposed restructuring plan, its chairman said, Reuters reported. Limitless is looking to obtain the support of 100 percent of creditors to the extension and restructuring plan for its $1.2 billion debt, Ali Rashid Lootah told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

State-owned conglomerate Dubai World edged closer to a second major restructuring in four years on Monday after announcing it had reached agreement with a "substantial majority" of creditors to back its $14.6 billion debt deal, Reuters reported. However, despite having enough backing to effectively prevent challenges to its new deal, a relatively untested court process to impose it will mean formal completion is still months away.

Limitless, a Dubai government-related real estate developer, has asked for a three-month extension to talks with creditors after failing to secure a new restructuring deal on its $1.2 billion debt pile, four banking sources told Reuters on Thursday. The company, which has already restructured the debt once before after falling victim to the emirate's property crash at the end of the last decade, has been in talks with creditors for nearly a year on a new deal. It had hoped to secure new terms before a $400 million payment came due on Dec. 31 but no deal was reached.

Kuwait is finalising what will be the Gulf's first insolvency legislation designed to help failed businesses recover from financial difficulties rather than be shutdown, leaving creditors out of pocket, ArabianBusiness.com reported. The draft law would allow companies at the brink of financial collapse to seek court protection and business rehabilitation, instead of liquidation, DLA Piper regional managing partner Abdul Aziz Al Yaqout, who has been working on the legislation, told Arabian Business.

Investment Dar, the Kuwaiti firm best-known for its stake in luxury carmaker Aston Martin, hopes to complete a second debt-for-assets deal with creditors by the end of March, it said in a bourse statement on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The sharia-compliant firm said on Nov. 18 it had received the backing of a "significant majority of investors" for the proposal, which would see creditors voluntarily exchanging debt for ownership of a portfolio of assets.

A Dubai-based venture half-owned by commodities trader Vitol SA has hired more than 10 ex-OW Bunker employees in China, showing how swiftly merchants are filling the vacuum left by the former top marine fuel supplier, China-based traders said on Friday, Reuters reported. The hiring spree by Cockett Marine Oil follows a similar move by Swiss trader, Mercuria, who has scooped up close to 20 ex-OW Bunker employees in South Korea and Japan.

Dubai World, the government-owned conglomerate, is set to use provisions of the emirate’s special bankruptcy law to ensure an orderly process in the restructuring of US$15 billion of debts, The National reported. A meeting of international bank creditors in London this week gave majority approval to the new refinancing scheme, which has been under discussion since April. Voters representing two-thirds of the total value of loans supported the plan.