Western bankers seek Gulf jobs to escape crisis

By Ulf Laessing

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Investment bankers from Wall Street to London are scrambling to move to the Gulf Arab for work as Western banks axe jobs to survive the worst financial crisis in 80 years.

Top executives told a Reuters Middle East Investment Summit this week they had been bombarded with applications from bankers hoping to find jobs in the world's top oil-exporting region, where economies appear poised to grow despite a global downturn.

"More than you can imagine, CVs from all over the world, all unsolicited from Australia to Europe," said Yann Pavie, CEO of Kuwaiti investment firm GulfMerger.

The credit crisis that led Lehman Brothers LEH.N to bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch MER.N into the arms of Bank of America has left thousands of bankers jobless and diminished the appeal of major institutions to top business school graduates.

Gulf banks away from the world's financial capitals had faced trouble attracting world-class bankers, but with jobs evaporating and salaries coming under pressure in the West, recruiters have a better choice than ever.

"We will be a huge beneficiary of the recent layoffs in the West," Manaf Alhajeri, general manager at Kuwaiti investment firm Markaz (MARKZ.KW), said.

TAPPING TALENT

Western banks are moving staff to the world's top oil-exporting region, trying to tap mandates to arrange mergers or other deals to make up for diving fees elsewhere.

Merrill Lynch said last month it wanted to open an office in Kuwait, spreading out in Gulf after setting shop in Dubai.

Banks such as Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) are running or expanding operations in the Gulf, offering asset management and advisory services, including for mergers or IPOs.

Given the Gulf's relatively young national population, the domestic pool for recruitment is limited.

Even primary education only became widespread in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman after the oil boom for the 1970s.

Because the domestic talent pool is small, many Gulf Arab firms have tended to rely on nationals from Europe, North America or other Arab countries to run their affairs at the higher levels.

The chief executive of National Bank of Kuwait (NBKK.KW), the country's biggest bank, is, for instance, a U.S. citizen of Palestinian origin, while smaller local rival Burgan Bank (BURG.KW) is run by an American.

"Talent has always been an issue in our industry given the small population. We need to develop institutions, we need to adopt the best practices," said Alhajeri. (Additional reporting by Daliah Merzaban in Kuwait, Jason Benham in Dubai)

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Hans Peters)