Financialisation in the Gulf States

Abstract

This paper focuses on financialisation in the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the past three decades. The key economic features of the GCC countries relevant for financialisation are outlined. The dimensions of financialisation are drawn to allow investigation of financial developments in the GCC countries. The evolving structures of financial institutions in GCC countries are indicated and compared with their evolution in other countries. Sovereign wealth funds play an important role in the internationalisation of finance in the GCC, as does Islamic finance. Thus, the GCC countries exemplify a variegated financialisation in which both conventional and Islamic finance have expanded at the national and global level.