Thursday 24 February 2011

FT.com - Qatar has credit in the bank

Treasury officials as well as executives at Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are not the only ones likely to welcome Qatar’s purchase of stakes in Britain’s part-nationalised banks.

Any deal will come as good news for bankers at Credit Suisse, which has strong ties with the emirate. The Gulf state holds more than 6 per cent of the Swiss bank, which has provided Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund with advice on acquisitions.

Last year, Credit Suisse’s Middle East head of M&A, Anthony Armstrong, moved to state investment arm Qatar Holding. He oversaw the purchase of Harrods, a deal where the Swiss bank provided advice. If the emirate goes ahead with investments in Royal Bank of Scotland or Lloyds Banking Group, to sit alongside Qatar Holding’s other investments including stakes in J Sainsbury, the London Stock Exchange, and Barclays, Mr Armstrong will no doubt be charged with crunching the numbers.

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