Mideast investment banks income at seven-year low | A1SaudiArabia.com

Investment banking revenues in the Middle East tumbled to the lowest level since 2004 as the twin burden of the global economic downturn and the region s political upheaval has crippled deal activity and prompted lenders to downsize or focus on smaller, less profitable transactions.

Investment banks in the Middle East in the third quarter saw revenues from equity, debt and mergers advisory fall to a combined $36 million, compared to $73 million in the same quarter in 2010, Dealogic data showed. The result in the lowest since the second quarter of 2004 and is a mere fraction of what banks earned in 2007 when Dubai was rising rapidly as a financial center and attracting bankers from across the globe. With $36 million in third-quarter net revenues, banks in the entire Middle East made as much as Finland and South Africa, but only about half of the fees earned in Belgium.

Goldman Sachs topped the chart with $15 million in revenues for the quarter, followed by RBC Capital Markets. Citi and Saudi Arabias Falcon Financial Services who each made $3 million to $2 million.

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