Happy Thursday everyone!

It's was a busy yesterday across the Gulf. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with UAE security chief HH Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed on Iran, Lebanon, and Strait of Hormuz navigation, as regional tensions simmer. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are pushing back on reports of banking friction between the two economies, insisting cross-border transfers remain unrestricted. In finance, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund posted its first annual asset decline in a decade, dropping $10 billion as it tightens capital discipline. And on a lighter note, Pickl founder Steve Flawith has a message for doubters: stop asking for permission.

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Markets

Saudi Arabia, UAE Deny Rift Over Stalled Bank Transfers

What Is It About

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pushed back on reports of cross-border banking trouble. Saudi's central bank said transfer controls stem from banks' own anti-money-laundering risk assessments, not blanket restrictions. The UAE's Economy Ministry said it has received no complaints from businesses. This follows a Reuters report claiming Saudi banks placed UAE-bound transfers under heightened scrutiny, with some payments delayed, returned, or stuck for weeks.

Why It Matters

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the Gulf's most intertwined economies, linked by heavy trade, investment, and business activity. Any friction in cross-border payments — even informal or bank-driven, rather than government-mandated — could ripple through companies operating in both markets, raising costs, slowing deals, and fueling uncertainty about the true state of Gulf financial cooperation.

What’s Next

Neither government has confirmed country-specific restrictions, leaving a gap between official denials and accounts from bankers and companies describing real delays. Businesses and banks will likely watch closely for whether Saudi Arabia formalizes or eases the "enhanced checks" reportedly ordered earlier this year, and whether transfer times normalize or scrutiny persists.

PIF Assets Shrink By $10 Billion In First Drop In A Decade

What Is It About

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund saw assets under management fall by $10 billion in 2025, to roughly $900 billion — its first annual decline in ten years. PIF attributed the drop to "wider market conditions" and a fall in domestic equity values. The fund has also pulled back from major projects like The Line and LIV Golf.

Why It Matters

PIF sits at the heart of Saudi Arabia's push to diversify beyond oil, with portfolio companies accounting for 11% of the Kingdom's non-oil GDP in 2025. A first-ever decline, even a modest one relative to the fund's size, signals a shift toward tighter capital discipline and closer scrutiny of returns after years of aggressive, high-profile spending.

What’s Next

PIF plans to return to international debt markets early next year, building on a major bond sale in May. It also intends to prepare more portfolio companies for listings on the Saudi stock exchange, as Riyadh works to recycle capital and deepen domestic financial markets despite the asset pullback.

Dubai-Born Pickl Founder: "The Fastest Way to Kill a Good Idea Is by Asking 10 People"

Steve Flawith says the advice that almost stopped his Middle East restaurant empire before it started came from the people who loved him most, and he's glad he ignored it.

Eight years ago, Steve Flawith and co-founder Nabil Al Rantisi had an idea. It would become Pickl, a brand that has since spread into a sprawling web of restaurants across the Middle East. But before any of that happened, they did what most first-time founders do: they asked around. It nearly killed the whole thing.

"Everybody told us we were going to fail," Flawith wrote in a LinkedIn post this week, reflecting on the early, shaky days of building what is now Yolk Brands — the company behind Pickl, BonBird The Chicken Shop, and Southpour.

Friends. Family. The people whose opinions mattered most. According to Flawith, the verdict was unanimous: don't do it, it's a waste of money, abort. He and Al Rantisi had gone "round the houses" gathering feedback the way any cautious founder is told to — and the feedback nearly talked them out of their own conviction. They didn't listen.

From Doubt to a Middle East Restaurant Web

Fast forward to today, and Pickl has grown into a multi-brand hospitality group with partners and outlets stretching across the region. Flawith credits the experience — including the rejection — with shaping who he and Al Rantisi became as entrepreneurs. Had they caved to the naysayers in 2018, he says, their lives "would look very different today."

His theory on why so many people doubted them isn't bitter — it's almost affectionate. He suspects the skeptics simply couldn't see the "inner relentless grit" driving the two founders. It's a theme that shows up again later, when the idea for Pickl's newest venture, BonBird The Chicken Shop, came around.

This time, Flawith and Al Rantisi skipped the focus group entirely. "We didn't ask a soul."

The Lesson: Stop Outsourcing Your Conviction

The message at the center of Flawith's post is less about restaurants and more about decision-making itself. His argument: the more people you consult before acting on a bold idea, the more diluted, and more likely to die, that idea becomes. Committees don't build restaurant empires. Founders with grit do.

His closing advice reads like a dare to anyone sitting on an idea they're too scared to start:

"Next time you have a killer idea, give it a go. Who knows where the road will take you. Just make sure you are honestly passionate about it and you'll be fine."

For Flawith, the proof is in eight years of results — and a chicken shop that never had to survive a vote.

👨‍💻From Smashi Business’ Desk

• LVMH-owned Sephora has denied reports it will open stores in Israel, while confirming Sephora Collection, its own beauty brand, signed a temporary resale agreement with Israeli retailer Glam42.

• HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, visited Binghatti’s London office, according to photos shared by the developer on Instagram.

• President Donald Trump and Saudi PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan were spotted together at LIV Golf’s New York event at Trump National Bedminster, ahead of the final round.

• Saudi boxing power broker Turki Al-Sheikh has pulled out of a proposed takeover of English Championship club Derby County after delays in securing approval left limited time to prepare for the new season.

🔍In other news…

• Oil prices rise as Trump cuts off talks with Iran

• Parkin expands beyond UAE with Egypt smart parking deal

• Libya needs up to $40 billion to develop its oil and gas sector

• Dubai gears up for packed events season as Gitex, ATM and Big 5 return

• Aramco, Maaden plan mining JV across area nearly 10% of Saudi Arabia

• Iraq considers deleting zeros from dinar as officials revive currency overhaul

• Blind Egyptian entrepreneur's AI app helps others 'see' the world

🦄 World of Startups

• ChatFeatured, Canada-based AI startup, raised $2M in a pre-seed funding round from BY Venture Partners (UAE/Lebanon) and other global investors

• Doctorbook, Syria-based healthtech platform, raised $16K in a pre-seed funding round from a group of angel investors, valuing the startup at $200K

• Carbar, Australia-based car subscription platform, is merging with Carasti, UAE-based car subscription business operating across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Singapore, at a combined pre-raise valuation of $74M

• Fincart, Egypt-based eCommerce enablement platform, raised $2.8M in a seed funding round

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