Reuters (October 18)
“The prospect of Aramco selling a piece of itself has had Wall Street on tenterhooks since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first flagged it three years ago.” But it looks like the IPO will again be delayed, possibly until next year, to “bolster investor confidence” by reassuring them of the company’s recovery from recent attacks. The sought-after $2 trillion valuation remains in question as “countries have been accelerating efforts to shift away from fossil fuels to curb global warming.”
Tags: Aramco, Confidence, Fossil fuels, Investors, IPO, MBS, Recovery, Valuation, Wall Street
Washington Post (November 28)
“For once, even Republican senators sounded actually mad and distressed by the Trump administration’s blatant prevarication. They were denied a briefing by CIA director Gina Haspel, reportedly at the White House’s direction, concerning the slaying of Jamal Khashoggi,” the journalist killed in Turkey, most likely with the approval of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Trump has absolved of wrongdoing.
Tags: CIA, Distressed, Haspel, Khashoggi, Mad, MBS, Prevarication, Republican, Senators, Slaying, Trump, Turkey, Wrongdoing
Time (June 28)
Women currently “account for 22% of the Saudi workforce, according to government statistics. Bin Salman’s goal is to get that figure up to 30% by 2030. Not only will having women behind the wheel improve participation in the workforce, it will help the economy. According to Bloomberg, the lifting of the ban could add as much as $90 billion to economic output by 2030.”
Tags: Ban, Driving, Economy, MBS, Output, Participation, Saudi Arabia, Women, Workforce
New York Times (May 25)
Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman brought new hope that he would drag “his hidebound country into the modern age with a new vision.” Reform, however, is now “in reverse in Saudi Arabia” as the young prince cracks down on those who advocated for women’s right to drive. “It will be impossible for Prince Mohammed to legitimately claim the reformist mantle and achieve his economic goals as long as women are prevented from taking their full and rightful place in Saudi Arabia’s future.
Tags: Drive:, Hidebound, MBS, Modern age, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Vision, Women
Washington Post (November 5)
“While accompanied by the rhetoric of reform,” the purge in Saudi Arabia “resembles the approach of authoritarian regimes such as China. President Xi Jinping has used a similar anti-corruption theme to replace a generation of party and military leaders and to alter the collective leadership style adopted by recent Chinese rulers.” It remains to be seen whether the Crown Prince who’s pulling the strings, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has bitten off too much or if he will succeed with this “very risky power play.”
Tags: Anti-corruption, Authoritarian, China, Crown Prince, MBS, Power play, Purge, Reform, Regimes, Rhetoric, Risky, Saudi Arabia, Xi
Washington Post (June 29)
Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) “has the potential to rebuild Saudi Arabia into a more dynamic country that’s much more able to protect its security and that of its neighbors.” Unfortunately, he is “also capable of driving his country off a cliff with his headstrong, sometimes reckless behavior. The stakes for the United States are enormous.”
Tags: Cliff, Dynamic, Headstrong, MBS, Neighbors, Reckless, Saudi Arabia, Security
New York Times (May 2)
Lashing out at Wall Street Banks is now an American pastime, but the credit ratings agencies “bear as much responsibility for the financial crisis as the banks.” Largely forgotten is the role Moody’s, S&P and Fitch played. Investors and financial institutions would never have purchased as many mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDO’s) had the raters properly warned investors that these were essentially “high-tech junk bonds,” rather than triple-A securities. Current proposals aimed at reforming the ratings agencies are not enough. The newspaper supports drastic steps to improve the ratings system.
Lashing out at Wall Street Banks is now an American pastime, but the credit ratings agencies “bear as much responsibility for the financial crisis as the banks.”
Largely forgotten is the role Moody’s, S&P and Fitch played. Investors and financial institutions would never have purchased as many mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDO’s) had the raters properly warned investors that these were essentially “high-tech junk bonds,” rather than triple-A securities. Current proposals aimed at reforming the ratings agencies are not enough. The newspaper supports drastic steps to improve the ratings system.
Tags: Banks, CDOs, Fitch, MBS, Moody's, NRSROs, Ratings agencies, S&P, U.S., Wall Street
