Dubai Finance Hub Defies Global Bank Cuts to Add Positions - Bloomberg

Dubai Finance Hub Defies Global Bank Cuts to Add Positions - Bloomberg:

"Dubai’s International Financial Centre said the number of companies based in the hub rose 16 percent during the first half even as lower oil prices and slowing economic growth forced some banks in the United Arab Emirates to cut jobs.
More than 1,500 companies, including 425 financial firms, are now based in the tax-free business park with the number of employees increasing 14 percent to 21,000, the DIFC said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. HSBC Holdings Plc said it is moving its Middle East headquarters to the center this year from Jersey, while Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank BSC also set up in the DIFC, it said.
Oil prices that have slumped by more than 50 percent since 2014 have drained billions of dollars from the U.A.E.’s banking system, slowed investment and forced some global and regional banks to fire workers to boost returns. Banks in the country, which also includes Abu Dhabi, may have cut as many as 1,500 jobs, according to financial recruiters and Bloomberg calculations earlier this year.
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