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(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is opening an office in Abu Dhabi, marking a major step for the U.S. bank that was snubbed in the United Arab Emirates for its involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
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Goldman Sachs’ new outpost will open in Abu Dhabi Global Market, pending final approval from regulators, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. According to the memo, the office will add to hubs in Dubai, Doha and Riyadh and enable it to deepen relationships with clients.
The bank’s Abu Dhabi office will initially focus on asset management, while its investment bankers will remain in the Dubai office, according to people familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Goldman confirmed the contents of the memo but declined to comment further.
Goldman Sachs said last year it planned to expand across the Middle East as growing foreign interest and positive economic factors prompted a boom in deals and money flowing into the region.
Abu Dhabi, home to a sovereign wealth fund with more than $1 trillion under management, has attracted some big names in recent months. Ray Dalio is setting up a branch of his family office in Abu Dhabi as part of the hedge fund billionaire’s push into the Middle East.
Goldman has been the bank of choice for many of Abu Dhabi’s top dealmakers, but the fallout from the 1MDB corruption scandal marked its abrupt downfall in the emirate, once one of the region’s most lucrative markets.
The bank missed out on billions of dollars in deals after being sued by two of its investment funds, but has since been able to distance itself from the scandal. Goldman Sachs was joint bookrunner for the listing of the state oil company’s drilling business, which at the time was Abu Dhabi’s largest-ever initial public offering.
— With assistance from Ben Bartenstein and Dinesh Nair.
(Updated details in third paragraph.)
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