So CBK has done a deal with Dar?

From today's Kuwait Times...

CBK not exposed to Dar, Global
Published Date: February 11, 2009

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) said yesterday it was not exposed to troubled firms Investment Dar Co and Global Investment House, its chairman said yesterday. Global Investment House, the country's biggest investment bank, said last month it had defaulted on most of its debt, while Islamic rival Investment Dar said in December it needed up to $1 billion in loans.

Commercial Bank has no exposure to the two firms Investment Dar and Global ... Dar and Global have settled loans owed to CBK," CBK Chairman Abdul-Majeed Al-Shatti told Al Arabiya television. Global has appointed HSBC and CBK Capital, a unit of the country's third-largest lender by market value, to hold talks with creditors. Shatti said Dar had settled its debt after selling its 19.2 percent stake in Islamic lender Boubyan Bank to CBK.

In December, CBK said it had cancelled the deal it reached with Dar in November to buy the Boubyan Bank stake. But Shatti yesterday the deal had not been cancelled. "The deal was not cancelled, we have agreed with Dar to proceed with the deal cancellation," Shatti said, without giving further details. In Kuwait, stakes larger than 5 percent have to be offered to the public in an auction on the bourse. CBK owns the 19.2 percent stake in Boubyan Bank, according to bourse data posted on its website.

Hmmm. A good example of the sham that poses as a financial market in Kuwait. If Kuwait wants to be a financial centre it needs transparency, sensible regulations & rules with penalties for non-compliance, where all shareholders are treated equally and minority interests are protected, where public announcements regarding takeovers, mergers and acquisitions must adhere to quality information standards... instead of these backroom deals being done whereby the participants are presumably benefiting from dealing from insider information... A bit too much to ask?

I hope Mr Shatti has been misquoted... a deal has been done, but it wasn't cancelled, but we have agreed to proceed with deal cancellation... work that one out!