UAE banks disclose Dh412 million exposure to Phoenix and associate firms

Dubai: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), on Wednesday disclosed to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) that it has about Dh269 million ($73.2 million) of exposure to agri-trader Phoenix Commodities and related entities.

This was the biggest exposure so far disclosed by a UAE bank to the group that has entered liquidation.

FAB’s exposure consists of $7.7 million to Phoenix Commodities as part of a syndicated loan with other banks, the lender said in a disclosusre to ADX. It also gave $55.3 million in bilateral and syndicated loans to related entities Phoenix Global DMCC and SMEG DMCC. FAB has a further $10.2 million in exposure to SMEG DMCC as bilateral loans.

While Dubai based Mashreq Bank has disclosed Dh46.05 million exposure to Phoenix Global DMC, Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, said in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday that it had $23.66 million (Dh87 million) in exposure to Phoenix Commodities.

While it has been reported that Standard Chartered has a signficiant expousre to Phoenix, the bank is yet to disclose the amount. In all, the company has an estimated debt pile in excess of $400 million (Dh1.5 billion) from trading losses.