eFinancialCareers

With healthy profits last year, and plans for up to 20% rise in assets, the Bahraini banking sector is suddenly looking like a more attractive place to work. The liberalisation of Bahrain’s investment laws has seen the assets of Bahrain’s banks rise by over 30% in 2007 to $285bn, according to a report by Securities and Investment Company (SICO). It anticipates another 20-25% per annum over the next three years. What’s more,... 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

In the past, the Middle East has struggled to attract top bankers, but now international investment banks are moving them there in numbers. Citigroup The struggling US bank announced the appointment of Alberto Verme to head up its investment banking division in Dubai. Verme is one of Citigroup’s most senior bankers, currently global co-head of investment banking, and the move is part of a wider effort to bolster the bank’s presence in... 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

Islamic finance is already hot, and it looks set to reach boiling point, with the Middle East emerging as one of the major players. But a lack of talent could threaten future growth. In its report ‘Oiling a virtuous banking cycle’, Goldman Sachs predicts that total Islamic banking assets in the UAE will reach $87bn by 2010. This represents 11.3% of global market share, and an annual growth rate of 28%. “There are... Read more

Both Lehman and Morgan Stanley have appointed bankers to liaise with sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the Middle East. It looks like the start of a new trend. This week, Lehman announced that it had appointed private equity veteran Makran Azar in the newly created role of global head of sovereign wealth funds. Lehman follows hot on the heels of Morgan Stanley, which has taken on three senior... Read more

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

Gulf states look set to continue their international acquisitions spree, and recruiters say demand for M&A bankers in the GCC is increasing as a result. Last year 173 corporate transactions representing $83bn petro-fuelled dollars took place – twice that of 2006 – according to mergers and acquisitions tracker Zepher. However, a further 108 cross-border deals were not disclosed. Recent high-profile capital injections into financial institutions include the Abu-Dhabi Investment Authority’s $7.5bn... Read more