Kuwait's central bank has cut Gulfinvest International from the list of investment firms operating in the state, the firm reported on Monday, in what an analyst said was a step towards liquidation.

'Clients' portfolios will not be affected by this decision ... and the firm will coordinate with all creditors and the restructuring officer for the best ways to resume the restructuring process,' Gulfinvest said in a statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website.

Last year, Gulfinvest defaulted on a Dh200 million ($54.47 million) loan from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank for which investment bank Shuaa Capital was a guarantor.

'This means that its over for the company, and they should be working on the liquidation process now. They are basically preparing for the funeral now,' said Nasser al-Nafisi, general manager for Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti investment houses were hard hit by the financial crisis, which prompted the government of the world's fourth-largest oil exporter to approve a $5 billion rescue package in 2009.

Trading in Gulfinvest's shares on the Kuwaiti bourse were halted since April 2010, after the firm failed to submit its financial results.-Reuters