Gulf Times – Gulf banks face consolidation hurdles to lift regional M&As

Gulf Arab banks are considering consolidation as one way to build scale and better compete with larger international banks as domestic earnings growth is slowing, but face obstacles in the form of shareholder scepticism and a patchy regulatory framework.
Mergers and acquisitions in the Gulf banking sector are seen to be most pressing in smaller but highly competitive markets such as the UAE and Qatar, where respectively 47 and 18 banks are active.
Analysts say that as economies in the Gulf region are expanding, consolidation would create regional champions that will play a bigger role in developing the local equity and debt capital markets-at a time when their international counterparts may scale down their emerging markets presence due to new regulatory requirements on balance sheets.

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