Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, the Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said on Tuesday that the government is working on a new personal insolvency law that would apply to individuals. His comments follow the news that the UAE’s new bankruptcy law, which protects companies that cannot pay their debts from criminal prosecution, has been approved by the Cabinet and could come into effect early next year. Mr Al Tayer said that the law dealing with personal insolvencies would take about 12 months to draft, giving no indication when it is likely to come into effect.

The United Arab Emirates may finalise a long-pending bankruptcy law by the end of this year, the economy minister said on Wednesday, a move that could help smaller companies in particular as the economy slows because of low oil prices, Reuters reported. "The need for a bankruptcy law is there, as soon as possible," Sultan Saeed al-Mansouri said reporters. "It is in the process. It should be finalised by the end of the year, that is my estimate." The UAE does not have modern bankruptcy regulations, making it difficult for companies to restructure or wind themselves up.

State-owned property developer Nakheel, which was at the centre of Dubai's debt crisis in 2009, has finished recovering from a $16 billion debt restructuring by repaying an Islamic bond this month, its chairman said on Monday, Reuters reported. Ali Rashid Lootah told a small group of reporters that Nakheel had transferred funds for repayment of a 4.4 billion dirham ($1.2 billion) sukuk issue maturing this month. "We are closing the restructuring file," he said.

A Dubai-based firm has failed to get a Supreme Court order aimed at preventing it being sued here over its acquisition of a multi-million euro property in India from companies controlled by members of the family of businessman Sean Quinn, the Irish Times reported.

A large GMC 4x4 sits with deflated tyres. Like the Range Rovers and Camaro GT parked nearby, it is covered in a thick layer of sandy dust — one of more than 30 apparently abandoned cars lining the bays of a floor of a multistorey car park at Dubai airport. The vehicles are testament to the rising number of “skips” afflicting Dubai — indebted expatriates who have left the city state rather than face debtors’ prison as an economic downturn squeezes the business and finance hub, the Financial Times reported.

A Dubai-based firm has urged the Supreme Court to prevent it being sued here over its acquisition of a multi-million euro property in India from companies controlled by members of the family of businessman Sean Quinn, the Irish Times reported. Irish Bank Resolution Corporation alleges Mecon FZE is part of an alleged conspiracy by various Quinn family members and companies to place valuable assets beyond the bank’s reach.

Dubai-based property developer Limitless is set to complete a drawn-out debt restructuring after the final dissenting creditor sold its share of the company's 4.45 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) debt, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. New York-based Stonehill Capital Management sold its debt in the state-controlled company, worth around $15 million at face value, to Dubai Islamic Bank, an existing creditor and one of the members of the creditor committee, the sources said.

An Abu Dhabi state fund said publicly for the first time on Monday that it hadn’t received billions of dollars in payments that a controversial Malaysian fund set up by Prime Minister Najib Razak claims it sent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Al Jaber Group missed a March repayment on its $4.5 billion restructuring, three sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, adding pressure on the Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate to quickly secure a new debt deal to save it from collapse. The family-owned group, best known as a contractor but with interests in a host of other sectors, has struggled after borrowing extensively at the end of the last decade to expand only to be caught out by a local economic slowdown.

Banks in the United Arab Emirates will suspend legal action against small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) struggling to repay debt for up to three months to prevent a surge in defaults that may jeopardise the economy, Reuters reported. The initiative, which involves businesses working with lenders to restructure their loans, is intended to give breathing space to SMEs, which contribute around 60 percent of UAE's gross domestic product.