North Africa/Middle East

Dubai Group LLC, the investment company seeking payment relief on $6 billion of loans, appointed eight banks to represent creditors in two committees as it tries to speed up agreement on a debt restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported. The committees were set up to bring the restructuring talks to a quicker conclusion, said a spokeswoman for Dubai Group, who declined to be identified because of company policy. The members have been selected to be representative of all lender groups, she said by telephone.

Drydocks World (DDW), a unit of debt-ridden Dubai World, expects talks on terms of its core debt to be concluded with months, after agreeing a new $200 million credit facility, an official statement said, Reuters reported. The shipbuilding arm of Dubai World said last year it was in talks with banks to restructure $1.7 billion in debt maturing in November 2011.

There was plenty of Schadenfreude when, in late 2009, Dubai was forced to admit it had trouble paying its debts. The brash emirate’s Gulf neighbours quietly hoped to tempt bankers and business people to their rival financial hubs. Now, irritatingly for many, Dubai is showing signs of recovery, The Economist reported. A $10 billion bail-out by Abu Dhabi staved off the threat of a big default. The emirate returned to the bond markets in September. Although the issue was unrated, it was heavily oversubscribed. So what’s the worry? One concern is how Dubai will meet its future payments.

Bahrain's Awal Bank BSC is withdrawing its request to withhold financial details and now plans to comply with Chapter 11 disclosure requirements, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Awal's U.K.-based administrator had previously asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan for permission to follow the protocol of reorganizations in Bahrain, allowing the company to withhold information typically made public in U.S. cases, such as the exact amounts owed to the 20 largest creditors. Bahraini authorities placed Awal into administration in July 2009.

A unit of HSBC Holdings PLC is protesting an attempt by Bahrain's Awal Bank BSC to pursue Chapter 11 protection in the U.S., saying Awal is seeking to cherry-pick the portions of the Bankruptcy Code it would like to use while ignoring other aspects of the law, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. HSBC Bank USA, which claims to be among Awal's largest creditors, said the Bahrain bank is trying to take advantage of U.S. laws in an attempt to claw back an errant $13 million wire transfer.

The developer Al Murjan's move to file for bankruptcy will set important precedents in the UAE, in a case that will be closely watched by thousands of investors in uncompleted projects, The National reported. The court's decisions in the case could create a framework for what investors and other creditors can expect if other property developers go under. Although there are federal laws covering bankruptcy, legal experts say they have almost never been tested.

The London-based administrator for Bahrain's Awal Bank BSC said it needs more time to talk with creditors before determining whether to continue the Chapter 11 case it filed last month with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In court papers filed in New York Thursday, Awal asked Judge Allan L. Gropper for an extension to file financial statements required under the U.S. bankruptcy law. The bank has so far been hesitant to publicly disclose specifics on its finances.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge said he'll give creditors of Awal Bank BSC more time to challenge the course of the Bahrain bank's unusual Chapter 11 case before deciding whether it can proceed, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Judge Allan L. Gropper of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan indicated at a Tuesday hearing that he would consider Awal's motion to proceed with its Chapter 11 case after giving creditors the opportunity to come forward, according to the administrator overseeing the bank's insolvency proceedings in Bahrain and elsewhere.

Dubai World has succeeded in securing 100 per cent support for its $25bn restructuring after the only creditor that had not agreed to the plan was bought out, according to people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times reported. Aurelius Capital Management, a US distressed debt fund, has sold $5m – a tiny proportion of Dubai World’s outstanding liabilities – to Deutsche Bank, according to one of the people. Deutsche Bank and Aurelius declined to comment.

The London-based administrator of Awal Bank BSC said the Bahraini institution filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. in an attempt to wrest back payments made to its creditors in the U.S. before regulators seized the bank, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Awal, which filed for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Friday, was placed into administration in its home country in July 2009. The bank gained recognition of its foreign proceeding in U.S. courts, known as Chapter 15 bankruptcy, last year.