eFinancialCareers

As M&A volumes take a nosedive in the west, investment bankers are being lured to where the action is – the Middle East. Data from Bloomberg suggests the value of announced mergers and acquisitions globally has slumped to $656.2bn in Q1 of this year, down from $971bn in 2007. In contrast, Bloomberg says M&A volumes in the Gulf have doubled from this time last year, to $55bn. Meanwhile, research from... Read more

Rules forbidding the issue of stock options to expats in the Middle East are a major deterrent to foreign talent, so are banks offering any alternatives? The concept of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) is a standard part of compensation packages in developed financial markets like the UK and US, but laws in the Gulf mean that expat employees are forbidden from owning stock in local companies. Lynda O’Mahoney, senior... Read more

It might be wise not to be too rude to a financial headhunter scoping you out for a job in the GCC – it could be the bank itself in disguise. EFG-Hermes, a Middle Eastern investment bank, has revealed that it has its own in-house team of headhunters, which it claims is both a cheaper and a safer option. Declan Ball, global head of corporate human resources at EFG-Hermes, says:... Read more

Banks are splashing the cash on locals as they struggle to meet nationalization targets within a limited talent pool. But what do they really think about this? The government in the UAE has decreed that in all firms 40% of employees should be locals, which is no mean feat when you consider that only 20% of the population are Emiratis. Add niche banking skills to the mix and it becomes... Read more

As multinational banks feel the pinch in the wake of the credit crunch, could local banks in the GCC become a more attractive option for talent? Alex Cormack, director, head of Middle East at recruiters Sheffield Haworth, says: “Local banks have had to start to recruit more aggressively, and the trend is for them to look very seriously at senior-level bankers from top-tier investment banks and move them to the... Read more

Where there’s money, there are law firms and they’re popping up in the Middle East like wild fires, looking to advise financial players on an increasingly diverse range of products. Both European and US law firms are heading eastwards to get a piece of the rapidly expanding financial services pie in the GCC. Last month law firm Latham & Watkins opened three new offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar... Read more

Think Dubai is immune to sub-prime problems and layoffs? Think again… Outwardly, banks may be in expansion mode in the GCC, but less publicly they’re said to be quietly cutting costs at the senior end. Sources tell us that Mohamed Kamal Metwally, managing director, investment banking, at HSBC Bank Middle East, and David Ludlow, head of investment banking at Citigroup in the Middle East, have both been laid off, though this has... Read more

If you fancy a safe bet this year, move into Islamic finance – business is booming and experience of the sector isn't essential. Islamic banks in the GCC have emerged virtually unscathed from the US sub-prime crisis. It helps that collateralised debt obligations, high risk mortgages, and other unfathomably complex investment vehicles are incompatible with Sharia law. Plus business is booming. “Many of these conventional products that have been under stress... Read more