UBS Loses Middle East Wealth Bankers It Hired Two Years Ago

(Bloomberg) — UBS Group AG has lost several senior wealth management bankers in the Middle East less than two years after hiring them, indicating the intense level of competition for talent in the region.

The departures include several bankers that UBS recruited from HSBC Holdings Plc in 2024, such as Rana Al Emam and Ali Khunji, people familiar with the matter said. The bank had hired Al Emam to grow its business in Abu Dhabi, and Khunji to run its wealth unit in Bahrain and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Al Eman has joined Banco Santander SA, some of the people said, declining to be identified as the information is confidential. Khunji joined Swiss wealth manager J. Safra Sarasin earlier this year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Khunji and representatives for the banks declined to comment. Al Emam couldn’t be reached for comment.

In the years before the Iran war began, the region was becoming a hub for the global rich. The UAE, in particular, lured the world’s ultra-wealthy thanks to a favorable tax regime, low crime rates and a convenient location at the juncture of multiple continents and time zones.

In response, firms including UBS, HSBC and Deutsche Bank started to beef up staffing, leading to a race for talent. UBS hired Borja Martinez-Laredo in December to head its Abu Dhabi outpost, shortly after it announced the opening of a new office in the emirate. The Swiss bank also operates offices elsewhere in the Gulf, including in Dubai, Riyadh, Qatar, and Bahrain.

There are also examples of retrenchment, with Swiss wealth manager Lombard Odier last year deciding to shut its Abu Dhabi office, Bloomberg News has reported. Meanwhile, HSBC told more than 1,000 clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar and Egypt they can no longer bank with HSBC’s Swiss wealth management business, people familiar with the matter said last year.

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