Standard Chartered said on Wednesday it was entering the Abu Dhabi mortgage sector by offering mortgage services to Aldar Properties, the emirate's largest real estate developer. “In less than two years our mortgage business base has grown by more than 500 percent and our team has grown from 25 in 2007 to more than 75 this year with further growth planned, especially for the rapidly growing Abu Dhabi market,” Jeremy Parish, Standard Chartered CEO for Abu Dhabi said. In stark contrast to the United States and Europe, where the sub-prime mortgage crisis has hit the property sector, Gulf Arab real estate markets are booming on the back of high oil prices. The property market in the UAE, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has been growing rapidly, pushing up property and rental prices and raising fears that the sector is overheating. Like other real estate firms in the UAE, Aldar's shares have fallen in recent weeks, dogged by a spreading anti-corruption drive in Dubai and fears over the global liquidity crunch. Separately, Dubai Bank plans a $5 billion Islamic bond program to finance growth as it looks to become a major global Islamic lender over the next five years, the bank said on Wednesday. The unlisted bank, a unit of Dubai Banking Group (DBG), said in a statement it had appointed Swiss investment bank UBS and Standard Chartered as lead arrangers. DBG is 30 percent owned by Emaar Properties. The bonds, or Sukuk, would be listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Dubai International Financial Exchange, the lender said without giving a timeframe for the first tranche. “This is a historic milestone for Dubai Bank, as we prepare to fund an aggressive plan for growth ... in retail and corporate Shariah-compliant banking services,” said Dubai Bank Chief Executive Officer Salaam Al-Shaksy. Shaksy said on Sept. 18 the group was negotiating bank opportunities in Indonesia and was close to securing partnerships and licences in Senegal and Nigeria.
