Lehman exposure limited - UAE banks

LIMITED EXPOSURE: Three of the UAE's largest banks have said exposure to financial will be limited. (Getty Images)

Three of the United Arab Emirates' largest banks said on Tuesday they had limited or no exposure to the turmoil surrounding Lehman Brothers.

Emirates NBD, the region's largest bank by assets, said its exposure was negligible.

"We have done an initial assessment, but it [exposure] is marginal," Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Uppal told newswire Reuters. "It's nothing that would cause us to lose any sleep."

Dubai's main index, down almost 32 percent this year, has shed about 8 percent since Sunday when news of the Lehman's impending bankruptcy broke.

In the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, First Gulf Bank, the emirate's second-largest bank by market value said it had no exposure.

"We have no direct exposure... we have only been dealing with their brokerage side," said Zafar Khan, senior vice-president of treasury and investments. First Gulf shares fell 5.62 percent.

A spokesman at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which declined 4.73 percent on Tuesday, said the bank had "no exposure".

UAE Central Bank Governor Nasser Al-Suweidi said earlier on Tuesday there was no systematic risk to the banking sector in his country following the financial turmoil in the US. (Reuters)

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