AThe use of formal bankruptcy procedures by Drydocks World (DDW), Dubai's shipbuilding and repair business that ran into US$2.2 billion of debt problems, has been heralded as a brave new world in the emirate's treatment of corporate insolvency.
Let's hope so. The application of the Decree 57 rules, originally intended to deal with any fallouts from Dubai World's $24.9bn (Dh91.45bn) restructuring in 2009, is certainly a step forward, and DDW is the first to test the water in this controversial area.
It has gained the agreement of 97.5 per cent of its creditors to restructuring proposals. DDW is a sound cash-generating business that made the same mistake as so many others by borrowing too much in the good times. Good luck to it, I say.
But in one respect the company has dashed hopes of a new spirit of openness and transparency in the emirate's financial dealings. When the Dubai World Tribunal gave its seal of approval to the restructuring deal last week, it promised to publish details on its website.
When it did get round to putting up the document 24 hours later, it was redacted to such an extent interested observers were left with just legal gobbledegook and none of the pertinent information, such as repayment terms, rates and durations. Such vital sections were simply "not included".
I know what DDW will say: 'We are not a public company, there is no obligation to disclose, these are private matters.'
But most of the bank creditors are public companies, with shareholders to account to. DDW is a big local jobs provider and its employees have every right to know as stakeholders whether their company has done a good deal or not.
As a journalist, I would also welcome the opportunity to reach some kind of conclusion on the DDW saga on the basis of cold hard facts, rather than the whispers, winks and nudges of creditor bankers (although, of course, these are always welcome).
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When a court in the Cayman Islands recently issued a ruling in the long-running case of Al Gosaibi versus Maan Al Sanea, awarding $2.5bn against the latter, it made one resident of Dubai a happy man.
Simon Charlton, a managing director of Deloitte Corporate Finance who has led the forensic investigation into Mr Al Sanea's businesses since the scandal broke in 2009, is claiming a new record in the world of finance, a Cayman "double".
"I must be one of the very few men, if not the only one, to get two $2bn plus judgements granted by a Cayman court," he tells me.
The previous one was some years ago, during the investigation into the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
"And both were against Saudis," adds Mr Charlton, with a slight note of triumph. That's an achievement that must make him very valuable in the kingdom, if not necessarily very popular.
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Mystery, as ever, surrounds James Drummond, the former Financial Times bureau chief in the Arabian Gulf who is now working on an online publishing project for HSBC.
I bumped into him in the Dome Cafe in the DIFC (where else?) and he gave me his new card.
It said simply: HSBC James Drummond Middle East Editor. "So James you're the editor of a bank" I asked? "I can't tell you what it's called, it's all hush-hush. We'll be launching it soon so you'll know then," he replied. I can't wait.
