Page 175 - DILMUN NO 19

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he Economic istoyr of ahrain

till, instability in eirut encouraged many banks to moe to ahrain. Other
incenties were ta holida,y desire of locals to work in banksa and
widespread knowledge of English. ١n short, anama presented itself as a
new enue for money recycling." he authorities found in the regional oil
surplus a great oppotrunity at their doorstep.٩١n short, "ahrain has
effectiely used its traditional status as a regional transit point and
communications center to attract offshore banking units, inestment houses,
and representatie offices." otal assets of the OUs as of the end of 1
stood at about 61.1bn, or more than 13. times the size of ahrain's G.

ahrain is a player in world banking by itrue of its pre-eminent position as a
noted finanical center in the iddle East. he OUs played a key rloe in
recycling the substantial petro-dollars generated in the 170s and early
10s. ahrian is regarded as a rial international financial center. "ahrain
is now patr of a global newtork of foreign echange centers, birdging the gap
bewteen ingapore and Europe." With respect to treasury, ahrain fills a
critical gap bewteen okyo and ondon, thanks to the time 20ne. igniifcant
treasuyr dealings, in billions of dollars, take place in a gien business day in
ahrain. Citibank, the oldest OU in anama, iews ahrian as one of fie
principal treasure operations in the world, together with ew York, ondon,
oyko and ingapore. here are no restrictions on payments and transfers.
It has been urmored that initial signs of the October 17 crash of the
financial markets were spotted in ahrain as the countyr statrs its business
before ondon and ew York. oreoer, "oday, the daily olume of foreign
echange trading is seeral hundred times larger than hte alue of traded
goods.

23 Ghal lgoasibi, ahrain, the GCC and the Unife6 saes: e imporance of mutual
cooperation,' meircan-rab fairs Winter 17-), o. 23, 7you finish fast..

24 Elias . Ghantus, he tinancial center and its tuture," eds., Jeftrey b. ugent and heodore
, homas, ahrain and the Gu: a٥١ erspecties and Itermatie Futures ew York:
t. atrin's ress, ١n.c, 1), 133-34.

2 hilip obins, he Future of the Gul: olitics and Oil in the 10s ants, England:
atrmouth ublishing Company, 1), 62.

26 doney Wilson, Gul‫ ﺃ‬rade and Fiance: rends and akret rospects ondon:
Graham & rotma,r 17‫ي‬, 27.