Financial and Governance Transparency: What Impact on Investments in the GCC Markets?

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Harvard Business Review Arabia – HBR Arabia; April 18, 2018

by Dr. Assem Safieddine and Leila Atwi 

The lack of transparency is often the norm rather than the exception among companies in emerging markets. Investors thus face paramount challenges in conducting investment analysis and valuation.

Does the lack of access to essential information lead sophisticated investors to forego investments in emerging markets?

This article reports the nature of financial and governance information to which institutional investors place the highest weight when assessing such investments.

In view of these expectations, how attractive are the GCC markets to international and sophisticated investors? Do they risk losing investments due to insufficient transparency?

The article pinpoints where the companies and the regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets, particularly Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, meet (or fail to meet) these investors’ expectations.

For more details, please check the full article in Arabic or English.

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