Has the Middle East reached its peak?

With fewer international banks willing to relocate senior staff across to the Middle East, and job opportunities lower down the ranks beginning to dry up, it seems that the region's ambitions to become a major player on the global stage may have reached its peak for the time being.

Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar have been making their way up the ranks of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) since its inception over a year ago, but have now remained more or less static at 23rd, 43rd and 46th, respectively.

Qatar even lost its place to new entrant Kuala Lumpur - hardly well-known for its financial services.

Mark Yeandle, who authored the report, said that one of the major themes of this quarter's survey was a "flight to safety" among investors to more established financial centres.

"While Dubai has invested in infrastructure and making sure it's regulatory regime is up to scratch, it still isn't drawing in the right people," he says. "The big investment banks are not making any radical expansions and are currently holding off making important relocation decisions among their senior staff."

The region has lost its shine a little, admits Peter Greaves, director of financial services at headhunters McArthur Murray.

"It's still a relatively buoyant market and there is movement going on," he says. "But there's been a huge influx of international talent over the past year or so and it's almost as though the region is fully stocked."

The Middle East isn't the only developing region to lose out in the latest survey. In spite of the problems engulfing London and New York, they remained in 1st and 2nd place and have actually gained ground on Singapore and Hong Kong, which ranked 3rd and 4th.

"The underlying competitiveness of London and New York remains strong," says Yeandle.