Bankers working for local offices of US and European institutions are looking with fresh eyes at jobs at UAE-owned banks in an effort to avoid yet another round of salary and job cuts as the global financial crisis wears on.
Compared with five years ago, when hiring was in full swing, the mood could hardly be more different now, said Charles Francis, a partner at the financial services recruitment firm The GCC Partners.
"Now the music's stopped and a lot of people have left the region. International banks here are retrenching," Mr Francis said.
Banks are now ensuring that new hires have experience working in or covering the region or fluency in Arabic, he added.
Withdrawal of international banks from the UAE has also created opportunities for local banks. HSBC, Barclays and Nomura have cut staff in the UAE, while Deutsche Bank has relocated its head of equity capital markets to London. Local and regional banks are "picking up market share where international banks are leaving it on the table," Mr Francis added.
Many bankers also view regional lenders as safe havens, he said, since government-owned banks such as NBAD or Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are unlikely to desert their home markets.
Among locally-owned banks, a number have indicated a desire to increase staff to build new businesses. National Bank of Abu Dhabi recently announced it had poached a new head of mergers and acquisitions, Michael Aissaoui, from the French lender Société Générale.
Emirates NBD Private Bank hired 15 new bankers last year as it expanded in the UAE.
The new recruits came "not because we're adding lots of capacity in the hope, it's because we're seeing more and more business", said Gary Dugan, the bank's chief investment officer. "A number are coming from Europe, from Geneva or London." Falling salaries and declining bonuses linked to shares were convincing many of those bankers to look overseas, he added.
Falcon Private Bank, fully-owned by Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments, is expecting to hire between five and 10 new private bankers this year for its UAE operations, comprising up to a third of its total intake of new staff this year.
Falcon is seeking to "aggressively hire good people and they're very difficult to get", said Eduardo Leemann, the bank's chief executive. "That's a key impediment to growth." But local banks have not been immune from cuts, with Dubai's Shuaa Capital reducing staff twice in the past year.
UAE banks are not experiencing the same public outrage over pay and benefits as in other markets, however. In the UK, banks bailed out during the financial crisis, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, have drawn public fury for bonus levels.
Amid steadily worsening cost-to-income ratios at investment banking units, even banking giants that escaped government takeover have taken an axe to staff benefits.
Goldman Sachs reported it would slash compensation and benefits earned last year by 21 per cent to US$12.22 billion (Dh44.88bn).
Credit Suisse, on the other hand, has paid bonuses earned last year in structured notes backed by derivatives instead of cash.
[ ghunter@thenational.ae ]
twitter: Follow our breaking business news and retweet to your followers. Follow us
MEDIEVIL (1998)
Developer: SCE Studio Cambridge
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation, PlayStation 4 and 5
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
RESULTS
6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.
8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
SPECS
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder petrol (V Class); electric motor with 60kW or 90kW powerpack (EQV)
Power: 233hp (V Class, best option); 204hp (EQV, best option)
Torque: 350Nm (V Class, best option); TBA (EQV)
On sale: Mid-2024
Price: TBA
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre, twin-turbo V6
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 410hp
Torque: 495Nm
Price: starts from Dh495,000 (Dh610,000 for the F-Sport launch edition tested)
On sale: now
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
The team
Videographer: Jear Velasquez
Photography: Romeo Perez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG
Video assistant: Zanong Maget
Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud
The specs
Engine: Twin electric motors and 105kWh battery pack
Power: 619hp
Torque: 1,015Nm
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Touring range: Up to 561km
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Price: From Dh635,000
AIDA RETURNS
Director: Carol Mansour
Starring: Aida Abboud, Carol Mansour
Rating: 3.5./5