European Banks Have Total UAE Loan Exposure Of $83.7 Billion -RBS

European Banks Have Total UAE Loan Exposure Of $83.7 Billion -RBS


LONDON -(Dow Jones)- European banks have a total of $83.7 billion of loan exposure to the United Arab Emirates, Jaques Callioux, Chief euro-zone Economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland said in a report released Friday.

Using data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements, Callioux said U.K. banks have by far the largest exposure at $49.5 billion, while French and German banks top the euro-zone list with $11.3 billion and $10.2 billion respectively.

Dutch banks have exposure of $4.7 billion, while Swiss banks have $4.3 billion and Italian and Belgian banks share in $3.2 billion.

The scramble to assess which banks have the largest exposure comes after Dubai World, a state-controlled investment company in property and financial services, announced earlier this week that it is asking for a six-month standstill on its debts.

Dubai is one of seven emirates comprising the UAE.

Around half of Dubai World's $60 billion in liabilities have been estimated by Credit Suisse analysts to be held by European banks.

Indeed, analysts at Unicredit commented in their morning credit note that exposure is most likely concentrated in euro-zone and U.K. banks which could " still represent a blow to several names."

Most banks have so far said that either their exposure to Dubai and Dubai World is small, or wouldn't comment on the situation.

RBS's Callioux stressed that, while the data in the report measure exposure to the United Arab Emirates and not to Dubai, they should still serve to provide a rough guide to relative European country exposures.

Callioux also noted that the data only covers loans and not bonds.

-By Michael Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9349, michael.wilson@ dowjones.com