UBS Group may leverage its acquisition of Credit Suisse Group to rebuild its investment banking business in the Middle East after recently closing its regional deal making and advising operations.
UBS executives have been seeking methods to relaunch the bank’s deal making activity in Dubai after effectively halting it in 2022, which would be a swivelling shift for the Swiss bank, according to BNN Bloomberg.
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According to the source, senior officials at UBS are eager to capitalise on increased deal activity in the region by using the lender’s private banking contacts with affluent royals and family-owned businesses. The discussions are in their early stages, and it is unclear whether they will end in an agreement.
Credit Suisse employs approximately 40 investment bankers in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. UBS and Credit Suisse representatives declined to comment.
Currently, UBS covers transactions in the Middle East and North Africa by sending bankers and specialists from countries like the US and UK to the region. The Swiss lender continues to have a presence in the area through other divisions, such as its global trading and wealth departments, where it has been hiring.
Senior bankers who support the initiative include UBS wealth manager Iqbal Khan; the sources claimed. He is well-versed in Credit Suisse’s Middle Eastern operations. Khan was the bank’s head of international wealth management before joining UBS in 2019, having responsibility for areas including the Middle East.
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By GlobalDataUBS is opposed to an ambitious proposal to create a new independent firm led by prominent dealmaker Michael Klein and would prefer to choose to hire the best dealmakers from Credit Suisse’s investment bank.
The Middle East has piqued the Swiss lender’s interest as a result of the region’s cash-rich sovereign wealth funds undertaking record-breaking capital investments.
Furthermore, at a time when worldwide volumes are at an all-time low, the region has been a lone bright spot for initial public offerings.
Yet, after being among those most seriously damaged by the Credit Suisse debacle, Middle Eastern investors are growing more wary to make new investments in Western banks.
Credit Suisse itself had been expanding its investment banking operations in the Middle East and Africa prior to the hastily arranged agreement with UBS. In order to grow its business, it first brought on senior banker Hazem Shawki from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and then dealmaker Tara Luthra from Morgan Stanley.
