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Bahrain eyes SPV regional hub status

MANAMA, April 2, 2016

The Bahrain Asset Managers Association (Bama) hosted a high level panel discussion to position the kingdom as an ideal regional and international hub for special purpose vehicles (SPVs).

The key roundtable meeting on “SPV and Corporate Entities Component in Investment Banking & Asset Management” was held recently in co-operation with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB).

It is the first of a series of events to be hosted by Bama in support of further growth and innovation of Bahrain’s asset management industry.

Key panelists at the discussion included Khalid Al Rumaihi, the EDB chief executive, Abdulrahman Al Baker, the executive director of Financial Institutions Supervision at the CBB and Dr Ahmed Al Jawhary, the chairman of Bama and chief executive of J Equity Partners.

Together, these panelists deliberated the significance of promoting Bahrain as a regional and international hub and the economic benefits and the spill over effects of SPV-related activities on the local economy.

Lauding Bahrain as a leading asset management centre in the region, Al Rumaihi said: "The kingdom has four decades of experience, and asset managers now distribute more funds from our shores than from anywhere else in the Middle East."

"The sector benefits from our core strengths, including the diverse pool of quality talent, our strong regional connectivity and the cost-competitive environment. The CBB and the government are coming out with a number of important regulatory initiatives that will further strengthen our offering," he added.

Al Baker said: "We expect the asset management sector to continue its growth in the coming years, mainly due to the surge in the economic growth of the kingdom and the region, as well as the soundness of the regulatory and supervisory framework of the asset management sector in Bahrain."

The discussion also addressed who should spearhead the introduction of the SPV business in the kingdom, the regulatory framework for SPVs, secrecy and privacy laws, regional competition and the prerequisites for making Bahrain an attractive SPV hub.

Dr Al Jawhary said the session was an important first step in addressing the opportunity for the SPV business in Bahrain and emphasised the significance of dialogue between all stakeholders in the financial sector.

"Professional and interactive channels of communication and introduction of a think tank element comprising practitioners, investment firms and asset managers licensed under the CBB from one side and the regulator, law and decision makers from another side are critical in perfecting the legislative and technical framework for such a critical industry," he added.-TradeArabia News Service




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