Week ending 23 August 2026: Zero transits, and the protection gap that follows

Shiptracking data from Kpler recorded five commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz on 15 August and none at all on 16 August, against roughly 73 on a normal pre crisis day. The trigger was a fresh round of attacks, including a strike on three vessels operated by ADNOC. Washington confirmed there were no talks underway with Tehran, and Iran responded with missile attacks directed at the UAE. Brent held around USD 94.

Do this. Reprice tenor rather than margin, because the risk here is duration, not credit spread. Insist on visibility of the actual port of discharge for each shipment, since the answer has changed for many importers since approval. Treat any reopening headline as a negotiating position until transit data confirms it.

Saudi EXIM Bank reported total credit facilities of SAR 27.67 billion for the first half of 2026, up 17.2%. But the composition matters more than the headline: export credit insurance coverage rose 32% while export financing disbursements fell 8%, against non oil exports that were down 26.1% year on year in May.

Do this. An exporter buying more cover while drawing less credit is defending, not expanding. If you are an SME supplier sitting underneath a Saudi exporter, secure committed lines now rather than in the fourth quarter, since the credit extended to you is likely to tighten before it loosens.

Numou, the digital financing marketplace owned by Abu Dhabi Global Market, announced agreements with National Bank of Fujairah on 18 August, covering account opening, guarantees, working capital, invoice financing and trade finance, and with Ajman Bank on Shariah compliant SME financing. SMEs are 94% of UAE businesses, yet lending to them sits at roughly 9.5% of total commercial and industrial facilities.

Do this. Watch whether these convert from memoranda into disbursements, since the graveyard of GCC SME finance is full of signed frameworks. If you are a UAE SME, a single application through an aggregation marketplace like this now reaches more than one lender at once.

The Central Bank of the UAE published its Financial Stability Report on 17 August. Banking system assets rose 17.1% to AED 5.3 trillion. The non performing loan ratio fell from 4.7% to 3.3%, and the capital adequacy ratio stood at 17%. In the same week, Commercial Bank of Dubai became the first UAE bank to let customers initiate payments from accounts held at other banks under the Central Bank’s Open Finance framework.

Do this. A 3.3% NPL ratio and 17% capital adequacy do not describe a banking sector that is capital constrained. If your bank cites capital scarcity as a reason to decline you, that explanation deserves scrutiny, since the aggregate data does not support it.

The Central Bank of Kuwait issued directives on 16 August requiring payment firms to separate repayable partner funds from permanent equity, and to establish institutional email channels for judicial fraud requests. In Bahrain, GFH Bank reported first half net profit up 13.3% to USD 76.2 million. In Qatar, the Qatar Investment Authority admitted Lesha Bank as the first domestic manager to its Active Asset Management Initiative.

Do this. If you use a payment provider rather than a bank for settlement, the Kuwaiti model of separating partner funds from equity is worth asking your own provider whether they follow, since it determines what happens to your funds in transit if something goes wrong.