Economics

Two ‘Forbidden’ IPOs Pit Gulf Investors Against Islamic Clerics

  • Kuwait’s highest religious authority says sales are ‘haram’
  • Shamal Al-Zour, Kuwait stock exchange plan listings this year
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This year’s list of IPO debacles Bloomberg Terminalcould grow longer if Kuwait’s clerics have their way.

A religious ruling in Kuwait against two initial public offerings launched this month is stirring fears that the Gulf state is clamming up at a time its bigger neighbor Saudi Arabia is doing just the opposite, courting investors in anticipation of Saudi Aramco’s IPO.