eFinancialCareers

UAE firms are taking pre-emptive measures to ensure that the carnage in the Western banking world doesn’t happen here: they're bolstering their risk management teams. Local banks are battling with the twin forces of regulatory reporting requirements – such as Basel II – and the need to set up controls against banking crises and rogue traders. Jamal Saleh, head of risk management at the Commercial Bank of Dubai, says:... Read more

Jobs are plentiful, talent is scarce, competition is fierce and fickle financial services professionals in the Middle East are now changing jobs every seven months. The skills shortage in financial services in the Middle East is well known and it seems bankers are using this to their advantage – bolting after bonuses and shifting jobs for extra cash or a better position. Speaking at a recent conference, and citing headhunter... Read more

Losing your job is never nice, but in Dubai it’s a particularly horrible experience – especially if you’re an expat. The root of the horror is that both residency and the right to work for expats working in Dubai’s finance industry are dependent on sponsorship by the employer. If you’re laid off, this goes up in smoke and you have 30 days to leave the country, unless a new employer... 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