Rothschild Sets Up in Riyadh’s Finance Hub, Eyes #Saudi Growth - Bloomberg

Rothschild Sets Up in Riyadh’s Finance Hub, Eyes Saudi Growth - Bloomberg

Rothschild & Co. plans to bulk up its Saudi Arabia operations by hiring or relocating bankers as it sets up a new office in Riyadh’s mammoth financial center.

The Paris-based bank said it is moving into the King Abdullah Financial District, the $10 billion business hub north of the capital that stood largely empty for many years but is now in demand among foreign and local firms.

Prominent tenants of the district include Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion sovereign wealth fund and domestic banking heavyweights such as Saudi National Bank — though Rothschild will be among the first international advisory firms there.

Nasser Al Issa, managing director and head of Saudi Arabia who was hired by the bank in 2022, will lead the new office. It will have a total of seven bankers on the ground with the aim of doubling its size in the medium term, Saeed Al Awar, partner and head of the Middle East at Rothschild, said in an interview.

“Localizing presence is a key strategy for us and therefore we would look to continue growing our on-the-ground local presence in the Kingdom,” he said. “The seven people we have would live in Riyadh and be permanently based out of the Kingdom,” he added, saying proximity to clients was among the key reasons for the bank’s decision.

Wall Street Bank Moelis Bet Big on Middle East. It's Now Cashing In - Bloomberg

Wall Street Bank Moelis Bet Big on Middle East. It's Now Cashing In - Bloomberg

In a low-key second-floor office in the heart of Dubai’s bustling financial center, bankers working for Moelis & Co. are busier than ever — so much so that the firm has had to tear down walls to add desks for its expansion drive.

In the otherwise stark workplace, shelves are covered with Lucite deal tombstones featuring equity offerings and deals by Middle Eastern companies — from Saudi Arabia’s petroleum behemoth Aramco to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. Envious rivals whisper that Moelis has turned its Middle Eastern operation into one of the bank’s biggest revenue generators per employee — no mean feat in a part of the world that's not known for big fees.

This all reflects the frenzy of dealmaking that’s gripped the Middle East while bankers elsewhere suffer a dearth of business. Gulf initial public offerings have raised more than $30 billion over the last two years, and Moelis — a minnow by Wall Street standards — has worked on more than half of those that hired independent financial advisers.

That, bankers say, is the payoff for years of relationship building by its founder Ken Moelis. But it has also involved big compromises and risks. The Wall Street veteran chose to maintain his relationship with Saudi Arabia’s government in the aftermath of the 2018 killing of government critic Jamal Khashoggi. He’s also stuck through dramatic downturns in Dubai. More recently, the widening Israel-Hamas war has offered fresh reminders of the challenges of a region susceptible to political turbulence and frequent boom-and-bust cycles.

Boutique banks like Moelis “can be more flexible in navigating different markets and taking hiring opportunities as they arise,” said George Traub, founder of Lumina Capital Advisers, a Dubai-based mid-market corporate adviser. But pricing in the risks of upheaval in the Gulf can also be particularly difficult, he said, “as non-linear outcomes are possible.”

Most Gulf markets gain on rate cut bets | Reuters

Most Gulf markets gain on rate cut bets | Reuters

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday after a slump in U.S. retail sales prompted hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting rates.

Retail sales dipped 0.8% last month, the biggest drop since March 2023, the U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.1% decline.

Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar and follow the Fed's policy moves closely.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab added 0.1%, closing at its highest since Aug. 2022, helped by a 5.7% jump in National Shipping Co for Saudi Arabia (4030.SE), opens new tab.

Elsewhere, National Agricultural Development Company (6010.SE), opens new tab surged 10% - the daily maximum limit - following a sharp rise in annual net profit.

The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab gained 0.6%, with Qatar National Bank (QNBA.CA), opens new tab, the Gulf's biggest lender, rising 2.4%, while telecoms firm Ooredoo (ORDS.QA), opens new tab finished 2.9% higher.

Oil prices, another catalyst for Gulf markets, settled higher on Friday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East more than offset a forecast from the International Energy Agency for slowing demand.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab added 0.7%, with investment bank EFG Hermes (HRHO.CA), opens new tab rising 2.6%.

#Dubai’s Golden Visas Are Helping City Defy Global Office Slump - Bloomberg

Dubai’s Golden Visas Are Helping City Defy Global Office Slump - Bloomberg

At the height of the global pandemic, as Dubai faced an exodus of expatriates and mounting competition from neighboring business hubs, the government opened up. That decision is now helping the city dodge the commercial real estate crisis rippling across the globe.

The United Arab Emirates — of which Dubai is a part — started to break away from a decades-old economic model that prevails across the oil-rich region, linking residency to employment. Officials widened the eligibility net for long-term ‘golden’ visas, abolished a requirement for companies to have a majority local partner, switched to a Monday-Friday working week and made it legal for unmarried couples to live together.

Policymakers wanted to help Dubai shed its reputation of being a transient city by attracting expatriates and encouraging some of them to set up businesses. That seems to have paid off.

In response to questions from Bloomberg, authorities released data for last year, revealing the scale of the turnaround. The city had 411,802 active business licenses in 2023. That’s a 30% jump from 2022 levels and a 75% increase from 2021.

Earlier this month, Dubai International Financial Centre said the number of entities registered there rose 26% in 2023 from a year earlier to over 5,500. The free-zone now employs about 41,600 people — a 15% increase.

#UAE's non-oil trade hit record 3.5 trillion dirhams in 2023 | Reuters

UAE's non-oil trade hit record 3.5 trillion dirhams in 2023 | Reuters

The United Arab Emirates' non-oil trade reached a record high of 3.5 trillion dirhams ($952.93 billion) in 2023, the UAE's prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on X on Sunday.

Trade in non-oil goods rose 12.6% from the previous year, while exports of goods and services surpassed 1 trillion dirhams to set a new record, Thani Al Zeyoudi, minister of foreign trade, said in a separate social media post.

"(This) confirms that economic diversification plans are moving in the right direction towards a future economy based on knowledge and innovation and reflects the growing international confidence in the UAE’s economy," Al Zeyoudi said on X.