SWF Radar ADIA

The Financial Times reports that, “Barclays was Thursday night close to securing a capital injection worth around £6bn from Middle Eastern governments, including Qatar and Abu Dhabi, in a move that will allow the UK bank to boost its balance sheet without turning to the British state for cash. Barclays executives were last night finalising the terms of the capital increase with investors including the Qatar Investment Authority and an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund.”

It adds that, “Barclays also held detailed discussions with Libya’s sovereign wealth fund about participating in the fundraising. Late last night, however, the likelihood of the Libyan Investment Authority participating in the deal appeared to have receded.”

The Abu Dhabi-based fund is not identified.

UPDATE (October 31): The Telegraph reports that the Abu Dhabi-based fund is the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

Emirates Business 24/7 reports that, “Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) - rated the world’s largest government fund - has started plans to enhance disclosure of its operations in line with an agreement with the IMF last week.”

This is quite a result for the IMF.

ArabianBusiness.com writes that, “Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini will meet with officials of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund this weekend as Italy considers introducing measures to protect against foreign bids.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, will move swiftly to comply with voluntary principles agreed with the IMF and seek independent verification, a statement from ADIA said.”

Private Equity News reports (subscription required) that, “George Sudarskis, a senior fund controller at secretive sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority [ADIA], has left the operation.”

Emirates Business 24/7 reports that, “A surge in crude oil prices over the past few years has sharply boosted the assets of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the fund is set to grow in the absence of major domestic debt, according to analysts.”

The National writes that, “The guidelines drafted by the IMF and IWG are voluntary and there is no guarantee that all funds will sign them. But with Abu Dhabi, whose fund is by far the largest, behind the document, it is likely that the majority will fall in step. Those that do not adhere to the new guidelines may see their attempts at future investment blocked; a country would have legitimate grounds for preventing the purchase of strategic commercial assets by any fund not committed to the agreed principles.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund which has bought into Citigroup, is interested in buying a large stake in Daimler, the German Focus magazine reported.”

Thomson Reuters has published a factbox on the biggest sovereign wealth funds of them all.

Strangely, while it mentions – alongside the usual suspects – the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), which rarely makes SWF-related news, it does not list China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the overseer of China’s unimaginably large foreign exchange reserves, which often does.

The National reports that, “The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) is backing Citigroup to ride out the subprime storm, despite its 44 per cent loss since taking a US$7.5 billion (Dh27.5bn) stake in the world's largest bank in November, an Abu Dhabi investment fund manager said yesterday.”