Credit Suisse moves regional investment banking base to Doha

Credit Suisse is cutting jobs in Dubai as it breaks apart its local operations to send some departments to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, seeking greater growth elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf.

The Zurich-based bank, which is in the middle of a global cost-cutting drive intended to save about 4 billion Swiss francs (Dh16.03bn) during the next three years, will relocate its regional investment banking division from Dubai to Doha, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The investment banking department does plan to have their business headquartered out of Doha. At the moment, the intention is to retain a presence in Dubai… they're going to retain some presence and some people on the ground," one source said.

The move would affect "a handful of traders across the investment banking division and equities", one of the sources added.

The bank's equity trading division will also be moved to Riyadh. Credit Suisse's fixed income trading operations and private banking division will retain their regional headquarters in Dubai.

The Swiss bank joins others including Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley in trimming job numbers in Dubai, as the increasing cost of complying with stringent capital requirements alongside lacklustre deal volumes in the region convince many banks that their resources are better spent elsewhere.

"Credit Suisse remains committed to providing a range of banking services to the Mena [Middle East and North Africa] region," the bank said. "We continue to be proactive about monitoring the size of our business relative to client opportunities and market conditions."

The bank declined to state how many jobs would be affected.

Last month, Credit Suisse said it would merge its domestic asset management, private banking and investment banking divisions in an effort to prepare itself for what it describes as the "new regulatory reality".

Credit Suisse recently announced a joint venture with Qatar Holding named Aventicum Capital Management.

Qatar Holding is currently Credit Suisse's largest single shareholder, owning 6.17 per cent of the bank's shares.

Qatar Holding and Saudi Arabia's Olayan Group also participated in a recapitalisation of the bank in February last year.

Though regional bond sales are having their most active year on record, with debt sales totalling US$41.8bn (Dh153.54bn) according to Bloomberg data, other areas of investment banking have seen deals dwindle.

The UAE has had only one initial public offering this year - NMC Health, which listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Mergers and acquisitions have only recently started to pick up, though the UAE has proven a sluggish market for takeovers. Credit Suisse is among the banks advising on the merger of Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate.