The fact that much of the emerging market equity action in the next couple of years is likely to be in the Middle East has not escaped the attention of the world’s biggest banks, which are switching resources to the region partly to make up for the decline of deals in western markets thanks to the credit crunch. Swiss bank UBS will open an equity research office in Dubai at the end of August to cover stocks in the Gulf region as part of an expansion in the Middle East. Stephen Andrews, a European banks analyst at UBS in London, will move to Dubai to head Middle East research and will be responsible for expanding the research team in the region.
"The decision to relocate some of our best analysts globally to Dubai demonstrates the importance of the region to UBS," Nick Pink, head of European equity research, said in a statement. Other bulge-bracket banks, such as Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers, have also boosted their teams in the region in recent months.