Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai on Wednedsay issued a decree setting up a tribunal to look into disputes related to the financial settlement of Tamweel and Amlak.

According to the decree, the tribunal is the sole body assigned to look into all legal claims and requests regarding the financial settlement of the two companies, whether submitted before or after issuing this decree.

According to the decree, the tribunal includes three judges, namely Mohammad Khamis Basyouni as chairman, Jihad Mohammad Khasawneh and Abdul Latif Mohammad Al Ulama as members.

The tribunal will issue its rulings in the name of Dubai's Ruler, and its rulings will be considered final and indisputable.

Disputes

The move is aimed at protecting the interests of creditors to these two companies, a government statement said yesterday.

Earlier this month, the Dubai Government set up a tribunal to resolve disputes linked to the settlement of the financial position of Dubai World and its subsidiaries. Shares in the two Dubai-based Islamic mortgage companies were suspended last year and have not traded since.

In November 2008, the United Arab Emirates federal government announced it would merge them and a state panel has since recommended combining them into a single Islamic bank.

Amlak narrowed its loss to Dh45 million in the third quarter from the second quarter, while Tamweel reported a net profit of Dh10 million in the third quarter.

Last month, Tamweel's chairman Shaikh Khalid Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the merger would take place in the first quarter.

— With inputs from agencies