Strategy
Citigroup Warms To Middle East's Booking Centre Charms
The US bank wants to step up the UAE's role as a booking centre.
Citigroup reportedly
wants to boost the United Arab Emirates' role as an offshore
booking centre, and is working to win a full banking licence in
Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are driving growth in the Middle East
and Africa region, which is expected to be above the market
average, Atiq Rehman, Citi's CEO of Middle East and Africa, was
quoted as saying in an interview.
“We are focused on what we can do within the UAE and very focused
on what we can do from the UAE,” he said. “We want to grow our
business here and make it into a regional offshore booking centre
for a lot of our loans,” he was quoted saying.
This publication has contacted the US banking giant and will
update in due course.
This development comes at a time when financial jurisdictions -
such as the relatively young Abu Dhabi Global Market - are
competing against the likes of the Dubai International Financial
Centre for business.
Citi applied for a banking licence last year in Saudi Arabia.
“Increased projected opportunities post Brexit will help boost
Citigroup's offshore booking business in the UAE. Moreover, the
bank will be exposed to other profitable transactions in the
region. Further, more prospects may come up from Saudi Arabia
which will propel growth in the Middle East and Africa,” Zachs
Equity Research said in a note earlier this week. Zachs said that
in 2004, as part of Citigroup’s strategy to focus on countries
where it could control a majority stake, the bank sold its 20 per
cent stake in Samba Financial Group to Saudi Arabia’s Public
Investment Fund for $760 million. “Hence, the company lost a key
banking licence, straining the bank’s activities in the country,”
the research firm said.
“In 2015, the company won a licence to trade in Saudi equities,
while, in 2014, it played an important role by being the leading
advisor on the country’s first international bond sale. In
addition, Citigroup has provided more finance to the borrowers in
the country compared with other banks like JP Morgan Chase & Co
and Deutsche Bank AG, which operate in this region,” it added.
