UBS promises long-awaited Saudi expansion
UBS's long-mooted move into Saudi Arabia has finally been given the green light. The team for the bank's current activities in the region seems to be in place already, but there's scope for a second phase of expansion.
The bank gained conditional authorisation from the Saudi Capital Markets Authority to set up in the kingdom back in July 2008, but final approval has just been granted. This gives UBS the ability to offer investment banking, wealth management, fixed income sales, execution and asset management services from its new Riyadh base.
Mohamed Sammakia, chief executive of UBS in Saudi Arabia, was recruited last year and seems to have been busy hiring his team since then. However, there may be scope for additional recruitment: the bank says it also intends to apply for a licence to act as a domestic equities house.
The prospect of hiring at UBS will come as good news in the kingdom, where several banks have been moderating their ambitions. Deutsche Bank, for example, made some of its team redundant in June, and Goldman Sachs backed out of joint venture with National Commercial Bank in March.
The head of HR at one investment bank in the region says that after a period of phenomenal growth, recruitment is currently restricted to "replacement hires and certain specialist areas".
