UAE cbank - Amlak, Tamweel review to 'take some time'

UAE central bank governor Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi said on Monday it would take some time to look at Islamic mortgage lenders Tamweel and Amlak and see what kind of institution they wish to form.

The fate of a merger between the two troubled companies, hit by the Dubai property price slump, has been under review by a federal government committee since November, when the UAE announced it would merge the firms with two other state-controlled banks.

Asked if Amlak and Tamweel had applied for a joint banking licence to the central bank, Suweidi said in an interview with Reuters the committee was looking at the institutions, their requirements and what kind of financial institution they wanted to establish.

"When they decide, their request will be presented to the board of directors of the central bank and the right decision will be taken. But first this will take some time. Things cannot happen overnight," he said on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank conference in Istanbul.

Separately the UAE managing director of Emaar Properties , Ahmed al-Matrooshi, said in an interview on Monday that the government should settle the issue in order to stimulate the property sector.

"One issue the government should finalise is Amlak and Tamweel because the property market will not work if there are no finance companies," he said.

Officials have been saying since March that a decision on how to restructure them would be made soon. (Reuters)