The Securities and Exchange Commission formally charged Angelo Mozilo, the former CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., with fraud and illegal trading this past week.
Countrywide was one of the major players in the 2007 subprime mortgage meltdown that kicked off the current global financial crisis. Countrywide COO David Sambol was also charged with civil fraud, as was Countrywide former chief financial officer Eric Sieracki.
The global financial crisis has hit Dubai particularly hard and Dubai’s property bubble has burst in a big way. Banks and property companies are renegotiating or defaulting on contracts left and right. The lawsuits are already starting to fly according to Reuters news agency.
The UAE Central Bank is considering tough measures including setting up a Dispute Resolution Committee to look into cases against loan defaulters, in a bid to help lenders ride out the current economic situation. Defaulters could find themselves blacklisted – which in the case of foreigners will also include them being prevented from leaving the country. A blacklisted person could face a number of difficulties in either working, doing business in the UAE, or seeking future finance.
More on UAE considers new laws to prevent Ex-pats from leaving after loan defaults
Developers in Dubai are beginning to face the same issues as other property developers around the world. Falling prices and dried up credit means that customers are not so keen to pay for off-plan developments that are now worth considerably less than the agreed prices.
More on Property Developers in Dubai Facing Non-Payment Issues
Well I tried really hard to find a more upbeat post on Australian property news compared to my last post. Unfortunately the world is not cooperating with me today. Its all doom and gloom in the property world down under.
As usual, it is hard to sift the genuine information from the press releases coming out of the UAE. To read some stories, anyone would think that the global financial crisis has passed the region by. According to Business 24/7 “Sweet Homes, an Ajman-based developer, said it will not lower selling prices for either of its two projects.”
The value of real estate in Romania – malls, office buildings, houses and land – has declined by an average 30-35 percent since January, after a sound 15 percent annual increase since 2004, according to Colliers International consulting company Managing Partner, Bogdan Georgescu. According to the company,the depreciation is caused by the global financial crisis, which has sharply affected the local Real estate sector, making investors think twice before acquiring a property.
More on Romanian Property Prices have fallen 30 percent this year
