eFinancialCareers

In a rare indication that the Gulf might not be totally sheltered from the problems dogging global markets, Dubai International Capital (DIC) has sacked 10% of its staff. Two senior executives have been laid off from the global equities team of DIC, the investment arm of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. And five senior staff have been axed from DIC's emerging markets team, the Financial Times reports.... Read more

On the face of it, international investment banks are ramping up their teams in the Middle East. However, it could be that many are only transferring existing staff across to the region and opportunities for external hires are actually few and far between. The Financial Times reports that investment bankers in the likes of Citi, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, and Lehman Brothers are “queuing up” to move to the GCC. They... Read more

Bankers lured to the Middle East under the promise of bumper bonuses may be disappointed – this year’s payouts look set to fall. Last week, Bloomberg touted the GCC as an M&A oasis for investment bankers who want to reel in the kind of bonuses they’ve enjoyed in Western markets for the past few years. However, figures from data provider Dealogic suggest this theory is more hearsay than fact. Revenues generated by... Read more

Investment banking and capital markets revenues in the Gulf are tipped to swell by up to 25% a year. And as more bankers flock to the region in search of new job opportunities, financial firms are becoming increasingly choosy about who they take on. Richard Lett, head of banking at recruiters RP International, tells us banks in the Middle East are able to be a lot more selective: “The talent... Read more

Equity capital markets (ECM) has been teetering on the edge of exploding into action in the Middle East, but now it’s in full flow. ECM professionals are, therefore, increasingly becoming hot property. At least 120 initial public offerings (IPOs) are planned in the GCC through to 2010 as more and more firms turn to equity markets to raise funds for expansion, according to investment bank Gulf Capital. IPO volumes in... Read more

The UAE banking sector has had no shortage of commentators singing its praises over Emiratisation. But are the local banks living up to the hype? While international banks like Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered have been singled out for their Emiratisation commitments, most of the multinational firms in the freezone of the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) are exempt from the quota. The onus is on the local banks, who have take... Read more

Financial services firms in the GCC are set to increase their headcount by 30% in the next few years, and up to 50,000 more jobs could be created. A study by Hewitt Associates shows that banks in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Jordan are laggards when it comes to recruiting enough people to cope with increased levels of business. As a result, they’re set to splurge on staff. “Being... Read more

More international banks have flocked to Saudi Arabia and are looking to beef up their teams to gain a chunk of the local market. Nomura became the first Asian bank to be granted a licence to operate in the region this week, hot on the heels of Credit Suisse and French investment bank, Calyon. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are already there. It’s no surprise... Read more

Pay in the Middle East is spiralling. It now makes up almost 60% of banks’ operating costs. A survey by consultancy Hewitt Associates suggests salaries in Oman and Qatar lead the way when it comes to eating into banks’ profits. But pay across the Middle East banking sector is becoming a problem – particularly when you consider that the average US bank aims to keep compensation costs below 50% of... 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

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

A 40% increase in debt issues in the GCC last year has firms desperate for more, and DCM professionals are increasingly hot property. A record $107bn was raised through syndicated lending in the GCC last year – two thirds of it in the UAE – according to the latest Thomson IFR Briefings. And this was in spite of a cautious approach. “Widening credit spreads from July last year saw some GCC... Read more

As international interest in the Saudi Arabia stock market reaches new highs, demand for ECM professionals in the kingdom is on the up. In spite of the liberalisation of Saudi laws to allow foreign investments in the past couple of years, access to the Tadawul all-share index has traditionally been limited to Saudi and GCC nationals. But change is afoot, and international firms are rolling out new investment products to... Read more