eFinancialCareers

With the likes of UBS, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse all heavily increasing their presence in the GCC recently, it’s easy to miss the raft of job opportunities at a number of Europe’s smaller financial institutions.

This week Intesa SanPaolo, Italy’s second largest bank behind UniCredit, opened in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) to focus on corporate and trade finance, structured finance, project finance, investment banking, treasury services and FX markets.

Meanwhile, Lazard Asset Management opened an office in Bahrain and has plans to bolster its team there, following on from its office in Dubai last year. This follows Dutch firm ING Investment Management, which set up in the emirate in June.

Other French banks to develop a Gulf presence include Société Générale, which moved into DIFC last year for investment and private banking, and Crédit Agricole, which gained a licence to operate in the DIFC for equity research, sales and execution in March.

Crédit Agricole also has a joint venture with Banque Saudi Fransi in Saudi Arabia, and is keen to recruit.

Bill Allum, managing director of search firm Napier Scott, tells us: “The typical approach is to bring the top individual or two or three from head office and then recruit externally. Clearly, a lot of these institutions do not necessarily have the sales or origination expertise for the Middle East in-house, so they have to source it.”

Germany’s second largest bank Commerzbank, which has been in the region for many years, looks set to come out of the shadows after opening a branch in the DIFC last September. The new office will focus on a wide range of banking activities, including structured products and derivatives.

One ex-banker tells us: “It’s been one of the leading institutions lending to banks in the region for some years. The DIFC branch plans to expand from a representative office to a force to be reckoned with.”

But will these new players struggle to attract talent against bulge-bracket rivals? Allum thinks not: “Some of the bigger banks have suffered severe negative impact to their reputations in recent months, so don’t necessarily have a competitive advantage in attracting talent over smaller players, many of whom have fared rather well in the tough markets.”