Citigroup has announced its intention to establish fully-licensed offices at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), with a view to bringing significant business, including its equity and investment banking teams covering the Middle East and North Africa region into the centre.
The announcement, which is part of Citigroup's plans to fortify its position in the Gulf's key capital markets, was made during a meeting between Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Director General of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC Authority) and Mr. Robert Druskin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank. Mr Druskin was heading a 10-member delegation of Citigroup’s global officials to the UAE.
“Citigroup’s interest in establishing a significant presence at the DIFC is a welcome sign of confidence by the world’s financial powerhouse," observed Dr Bin Sulaiman.
In 2005, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, a member of Citigroup, joined as an individual clearing member and a trading member in the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), and Citigroup was the sole global co-ordinator and joint bookrunner for the first listed company on DIFX, Investcom, whose Global Depositary Shares (GDS) are listed in parallel on the London Stock Exchange as well as DIFX.
"The Middle East is a very important region of operations for international banks as it is set for tremendous growth, specially in the financial services sector," he added.
Citigroup also has plans to establish a dedicated regional-level equity research team over the coming months.
Mr. Druskin noted that: “Business in the region is exploding and we are proud to continue to take part of this growth."
He added that: "We are keen to develop our longstanding market position and time-honoured relationships with clients, and to leverage our global network and unsurpassed product range, talent and quality.”
An established presence in the region for 50 years, Citigroup has offices in nine Arab countries including Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Bahrain and lately Kuwait. It also serves clients in non-presence countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar and Oman, through Bahrain.
In the UAE, Citigroup plans to expand its consumer banking, corporate & investment banking and private banking businesses.
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