SWF Radar KIA

CPI Financial reports that, “The weekly Kuwaiti cabinet meeting has asked the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) to set up a long-term investment portfolio in cooperation with other state agencies for investment in the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE).”

Financial Times reports that, “Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah, the central bank governor, claims to have the Gulf Bank problem ‘under control’…But, other than deploying the Kuwait Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the government has not made public what is being done or the sums involved.”

Reuters reports that, “Kuwait’s Gulf Bank announced a 375 million dinar ($1.4 billion) emergency rights issue and a boardroom sweep on Monday following the revelation last month it had lost a similar amount through currency trades gone awry…[Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)] will buy any shares from the issue left unsubscribed by shareholders.”

The Times reports that, “Lloyds TSB is in talks with sovereign wealth funds and UK insurance groups about selling stakes in a merged Lloyds-HBOS group, with a preliminary deal expected by January. Lloyds intends to use the cash to help to redeem £4 billion of expensive and restrictive government preference shares in Lloyds and HBOS at the earliest opportunity….It is understood that Lloyds is in negotiations with up to ten Middle Eastern and Asian sovereign wealth funds about selling the stake. Funds from Dubai, Kuwait and Brunei are obvious contenders, as is Temasek of Singapore. Chinese funds – which have made loss-making investments in Western financial institutions including Barclays – are not candidates.”

The Kuwait Times reports that, “MP Adel Al-Saraawi said yesterday that he plans to submit a request for an expanded debate on the impact of the global financial crisis, Kuwaiti investments abroad and the financial position of the state… The proposal calls to invite the government and a number of specialists to discuss the effect of the global meltdown on the holdings of the Future Generations Fund and the State Reserves Fund [both managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)].”

The Arab Times writes that, “Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has not lost any money by investing in Merrill Lynch as it has made a long-term investment, says Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Kuwait remains committed to its foreign investments held by the Gulf Arab state’s sovereign wealth fund despite some losses due to the global financial crisis, its finance minister [Mustafa al-Shamali] told the state news agency.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the Gulf Arabs state’s sovereign wealth fund, is considering more investments in the Gulf Arab region and North Africa, with a focus on Egypt and Morocco, its top official [executive director Bader al-Ajeel] said on Thursday.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the Gulf Arab state’s sovereign wealth fund, is capable of injecting almost $15 billion in the local market and might withdraw money invested abroad, a newspaper said on Thursday.”

Gulf Times reports that, “The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which manages the Gulf Arab state's sovereign wealth, said yesterday there was no limit to the amount it could invest in the local bourse to shore up flagging stocks.”