Dubai: Citigroup Inc. is expanding its debt markets business in Dubai by transferring its co-head of Europe, Middle East and African capital markets from London.
Atiq Rehman, appointed co-head of the EMEA capital markets business on May 12, said he plans to move “by the summer” to oversee businesses including acquisition, leveraged and project financing.
Previously Rehman was co-head of global loans and leveraged and emerging markets finance as part of his 24-year career at the bank.
“A lot of revenue is coming from emerging markets and we want to be closer to clients and able to make quicker decisions,” Rehman said in a phone interview from his office in London.
“The business opportunity in Dubai is not so much domestic but about Middle Eastern clients becoming global companies that need local support and to be shown global ideas.”
The New York-based bank said last week that Alberto Verme, the co-head of its investment bank unit, will move to Dubai from London to boost its position in the Middle East.
Dubai, the Gulf region’s growing financial, tourism and transport hub, is drawing investment as its oil-exporting neighbors post growth of 6 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund estimates.
