eFinancialCareers

With liquidity tight just about everywhere, the GCC included, banks are in need of cash. This is creating roles for sales and relationship managers in corporate banking. The lack of liquidity is becoming a problem. Moody’s recently downgraded some local banks, which “reflected mounting liquidity pressures in the short to medium term”, according to John Tofarides, an analyst at the firm. "Under the current market conditions the banking sector's focus... Read more

The Middle Eastern financial sector was not exempt from the typical end-of-year recruitment lull, but some firms still pressed ahead with their expansion plans. Here’s our monthly people moves round-up in the GCC. Barclays Wealth took on Steve Fedor as its new chief operating officer for the Middle East and North Africa based in Dubai. Gulf Stream Asset Management, which is majority owned by Dubai government entity Istithmar World, recruited... Read more

Attempting to peer into a crystal ball for the coming year can be a risky business in these turbulent times. Nevertheless, we’ve gone out on a limb and here are our thoughts on the potential highs and low for next year. 2009 WILL BE A GOOD YEAR FOR JOBS AND HIRING IN…. Private equity The top 10 funds raised focusing on the Middle East have a combined $5.7bn, according to... Read more

Was 2008 the year in which the Gulf bubble was popped? Not necessarily. Here we give our considered opinion on the highs and lows of 2008. 2008 WAS A GOOD YEAR FOR... Talent pool At the end of 2007 there was a talent shortage in the GCC and banks were vying over a limited pool of people. However, as the financial crisis worsened in Western markets in 2008, this situation... Read more

Restrictive working visa policies in the GCC means that the majority of expat bankers continue to view the region as a short-term assignment. Speakers at the recent Dubai International Finance Centre described the influx of Western talent as a “tsunami”, but said that more needed to be done in order to secure the “psychological” commitment to the region. The spectre of redundancy has already made a debut in the GCC... Read more

A banking job in Dubai, it seems, is no longer as secure as it once was, and with more redundancies predicted in the coming year, expat workers are looking to Abu-Dhabi for new opportunities. The Dubai financial sector can no longer be viewed as a sanctuary for Western bankers. The likes of Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are already trimming their Dubai teams, and mid-market investment bank Jefferies... Read more

Shuaa Capital’s move to chop 9% of its Dubai staff makes it the first major local player to publicly acknowledge redundancies. More employees are also likely to be shifted to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which the firm tips for growth in 2009. After posting losses for two consecutive quarters, to leave it down Dh371m for the first six months of 2008, the bank has entered a consultation period with 21 of... Read more

Financial services companies in the Middle East are being swamped with applications, particularly from Western bankers. But while the mass of candidates threatens to spiral out of control, a more pressing issue exists – identifying and retaining the brightest stars among those already employed. The flood of CVs is reflected in the experience of recruitment firm Hays. “In November 2005, we had 500 applications per week through our website,” says... Read more

With multi-national banks trimming headcount in the GCC, some big-hitting local banks have stepped forward with reassurances that they won’t be making redundancies. However, some think this is slightly optimistic and even if they do hold fire, recruitment is set to tail off going into next year. The likes of Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Union National Bank told Gulf News that not only... Read more

Independent investment bank Jefferies is closing its Dubai office as part of a plan to slash 15% of its workforce globally. The bank currently employs 15 people in the emirate, and all of them will be included in the redundancy programme. However, it says it will restore its presence in Dubai “when appropriate”. It opened the office in late 2006. Jeffries expects to post a third-quarter loss, after the $60.5m deficit in... Read more

Private equity firms in the Middle East are focusing more on creating value within their existing portfolio companies, as opportunities for new investment are harder to come by and the economic slowdown makes it more difficult to make a quick profit. This is creating plentiful job opportunities for operational specialists. “Firms are looking for a credible sponsor for the longer term,” Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, managing director at Abraaj Capital, said. “Now... Read more

With increasingly grim tidings for multinational banks in November, the Gulf region has not been immune to headcount trimming. However, it continues to attract new players and others are expanding. Here’s our monthly round-up of people moves in the GCC. Alpari, a forex specialist, has launched a regional office in Dubai. It intends to offer individual traders, fund managers and institutional customers its trading technology. BNP Paribas, which currently has... Read more

Morgan Stanley has confirmed that it is making up to 15% of its Dubai staff redundant, while rumours abound that other international firms are making similar cuts. Any thoughts that Dubai might offer sanctuary to out-of-work Western investment bankers must surely have gone out of the window, as struggling firms are forced to trim their Middle Eastern staff. “The bank has made final reductions last week, with a total number between 10... Read more

Western bankers might be queuing up to enter the UAE, but it seems the focus of many of the region’s largest financial players is very much on developing a pipeline of local talent. The thorny issue of Emiratisation has never been higher on the agenda, at a time when financial institutions have the option of a beauty parade of international talent, following the jobs bloodbath in the West. While many... Read more

M&A volumes in the Middle East have tumbled by nearly 50% on last year and banks’ appetite to hire seems to have dried up along with the number of deals. The Middle East Databank, compiled by Dealogic for Financial News, reveals that the value of M&A deals year-to-date in the region is just $19.8bn – a 46% drop on 2007. This will be unsettling news for the army of bankers... Read more