Over 200 industry leaders are expected to converge at the GCC region’s first debt restructuring and NPL-focused summit in Dubai in September.

 

Middle East Global Advisors, a leading financial intelligence platform spearheading the development of knowledge-based economies in the MENASEA markets, will convene the Corporate Restructuring Summit (CRS) 2018 on September 5 and 6 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Dubai. 

 

Addressing the theme of “Optimal Management of Financial Restructuring & Non-Performing Loans”, the summit’s vision is to facilitate an enabling environment to address the key challenges of restructuring and strategic reorganisation of finance and debt-related issues. 

 

The critical insights thus gathered will thereby enable organisations with new perspectives to effectively tackle corporate credit challenges.

 

With IFRS-9 and the pressure from NPLs creating a strain on banks and leading corporates increasingly defaulting on loan re-payments, corporate workouts and financial restructuring have become the norm to aid organisations with troubled balance sheets to combat debt delinquencies and defaults across key sectors comprising contracting, insurance, real estate and energy, amongst others. 

 

According to a recent prediction by Moody’s Investors Service, non-performing loans could reach 5.5 or 6% of total gross loans in the UAE, an increase from the 5.3% recorded in June 2017, a figure that stands at the higher end of the scale as compared to its Gulf Arab counterparts. 

 

Economic stability continues to be a high priority area for the UAE with a notable recent development being UAE Vice President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ordering the formation of a committee to oversee the financial restructuring of companies in the country.

 

Key industry veterans from leading banks and corporates will headline the summit as it aims to spearhead discussions gravitating around the two high-stake areas of effective NPL management and debt restructuring. 

 

The confirmed industry leaders at the summit include: Dr Fahad Alshathri, deputy governor – supervision, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority; Majed Essa Al Ajeel, chairman, Kuwait Banking Association & Burgan Bank; Simon Charlton, chief restructuring officer & acting chief executive officer, Ahmad Hamad Al Gosaibi & Brothers; Dr Nasser Saidi, president, Nasser Saidi & Associates; Christopher Maclean, group chief risk officer, Al Rajhi Bank; Manoj Chawla, general manager – Risk, Emirates NBD; Murat Sultanov, senior financial sector specialist, Finance Competitiveness & Innovation (FCI) Global Practice, World Bank Group; John Iossifidis CEO, Noor Bank; Naveed Kamal, managing director, Citi Bank; Ravi Murthy, group chief financial officer, Arabtec Construction; and Bruce Wade, chief risk officer, National Bank of Bahrain, among others.

 

The two-day summit will see keynote addresses by Dr Fahad Alshathri and Dr Nasser Saidi; an exclusive interview discussing the financial restructuring of the Al Gosaibi Group with Simon Charlton; CEO panel on resolving GCC’s challenge of accumulating bad debt and key panels on debt resolution, insolvency, effective NPL management, trends in consolidation and restructuring, among others. 

 

The summit is expected to draw participation from prominent banks, corporates, legal-advisory firms, hedge funds, investment banks and debt restructuring specialists from across the GCC onto one platform by spearheading actionable debate, impactful change and high-level outcomes.  - TradeArabia News Service