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In the immediate aftermath of its merger with Bank of America, Merrill Lynch's former chief exec John Thain promised continued expansion in the Middle East. Since then, though, the new combined entity has yet to reveal any recruitment in the region, but this could be about to change.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch's newly appointed president of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Canada, Jonathan Moulds, has hinted that more recruitment is likely in the GCC.

"I think we clearly have a strong presence in a number of areas and we will continue to add talent," he said in an interview with The National.

These areas include, he said, wealth management, advisory, M&A and trading in equity.

Prior to the merger with Bank of America, Merrill was expanding its regional presence in the Middle East, having made some significant senior hires and rolled out a formal graduate recruitment programme for the first time in 2008.

However, in terms of investment banking revenues, it had yet to enter the upper echelons. As at the end of Q3 in 2008, neither Merrill nor BoA featured in the top five investment banks for revenue in the Middle East, according to data from Dealogic.

The combined entity, however, has gained a bigger slice of an admittedly smaller pie. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has a 3.6% market share of investment banking revenues in the Middle East, according to Dealogic, making it the fifth largest bookrunner year to date.

$500m of net investment banking revenues were generated in the Middle East to the end of Q3 2009, which is a 44% slip year on year.