The 325-year-old British consumer, corporate and investment bank based in London has operated in the Middle East for over 150 years. It has more than £1 trillion ($1.22 trillion) in assets and offers clients personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, and corporate banking solutions including risk management, cash and liquidity management, as well as trade and working capital requirements.
It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and operates in over 40 countries where it employs around 85,000 people.
It was established as Barclays and Co in 1896 when several banks in the UK including Backhouse’s Bank and Gurney’s Bank united as a joint-stock bank under the name, and, in 1967, it became the world’s first bank to deploy a cash dispenser.
It has also been involved in a series of transactions, including a $17bn three-way merger between ADCB, UNB and Al Hilal banks, where it was the exclusive advisor to ADCB. It also acted as the advisor to Investbank in its $300 million recapitalisation by the Government of Sharjah.
In June 2019, Hazem Shish, head of Financial Institutions Group, Middle East, Turkey and Africa said the bank is aiming to grow its financial institution franchise in the region.
“Financial institutions across the Middle East are facing up to the challenge of increasing competition and uncertain macroeconomic conditions by considering the benefits of scale and the result is an environment that is conducive to further bank consolidation. We look forward to continuing to grow our financial institution franchise in the Middle East over the next 12 months,” Shish said at the time.
Francesco Ceccato, Barclays co-head of EMEA Financial Institutions Group for Banking, says the recent transactions show that the bank’s MENA business is “a powerful contributor” it its overall FIG business in the broader region.
In April and May of this year, Barclays also completed the London Stock Exchange listings of Network International ($2.67 IPO) and Finablr ($1.46bn IPO).
In June 2019, Barclays was named Middle East Financial Services Advisor of the Year in the Mergermarket M&A awards, in recognition of its leadership in the financial services industry.
Khaled El Dabag, Barclays head of Banking, MENA and David Nataf, Barclays head of Banking, Central Eastern Europe MENA (CEEMENA) jointly said at the time, “This award by Mergermarket is a testament to our strong presence in the Middle East, one of Barclays’ priority markets. It recognises that our regional expertise, combined with senior advice and global reach, provides clients with unmatched advisory and execution services.
Barclays was also recognised as the ‘Best Foreign Investment Bank in the Middle East’ by EMEA Finance at the Middle East Banking Awards 2018.
In December last year, it launched two licensed Stoxx ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) indices in the Middle East to allow it to meet a growing demand for equity investments driven by ESG criteria, while simultaneously helping clients with tailor made solutions.
The Euro iStoxx 50 ESG Focus Index and Euro iStoxx 50 ESG Focus GR Decrement 5 percent Index will provide Barclays’ private banking clients with a wider pool of responsible investment options to build their portfolios from.
Barclays said the indices’ transparent design makes them particularly attractive for structured products while offering a simple alternative to the Eurostoxx 50 benchmark.
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