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HSBC has announced 1,100 job cuts in its global banking and markets division, which incorporates investment banking, but it’s not yet clear whether any of these redundancies will affect the Middle East.

London appears to be hardest hit, with 500 investment banking jobs set to be axed, and spokesman Gareth Hewett confirmed that a further 100 would be slashed from its Asian operations.

The investment banking division in the Middle East is relatively small, employing 58 in the UAE and a further 250 in Saudi Arabia.

A spokesperson for the bank told us that although overall numbers have been decided it has yet to break these down to particular divisions or locations, which means it’s unsure of whether any cuts will occur in the Middle East.

A reason for optimism is that the Middle East has been a star performer within HSBC’s global banking and markets division. Its interim 2008 report shows that the region doubled pre-tax profits in the six months to June 2008 over the same period last year.

Despite all the hype surrounding hiring in the Gulf region generally, it is largely overlooked when global redundancies are announced by international banks. In the wake of Lehman’s collapse, for example, the bank’s 40 Middle East employees were left on tenterhooks until the Nomura purchase earlier this week, which may have secured their positions.