JPMorgan expands in Dubai as Middle East competition heats up

JPMorgan targets mid-cap growth in Europe, Middle East

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Citigroup sees UAE as key market and is investing

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JPMorgan weighs expanding footprint in Turkey

FRANKFURT, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. bank JPMorgan has expanded in Dubai as part of a broader push to grow and do more business with medium-sized companies, an executive told Reuters, as competition in the Middle East intensifies.

The move, not previously reported, is a challenge to competitors such as Citigroup, and comes after JPMorgan recently devoted more resources to coverage of so-called midcaps in Austria and Poland.

"There's a global focus on doing more in the midcap space," Stefan Povaly, London-based co-head of corporate banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said. Midcaps give JPMorgan another revenue stream beyond its traditional focus on the biggest blue-chip firms.

"The Middle East is of course a priority ... This is the first step for an expansion into the midcap space," Povaly said.

Global financial firms have increasingly set up operations in the Middle East to tap into oil wealth and growing regional markets. Barclays recently announced an expansion into Saudi Arabia, while Goldman Sachs opened an office in Kuwait.

Citigroup first opened in the UAE in 1964, and added commercial bank activities in 2007. Speaking about competition in general, Alex Stiris, head of Citi's commercial banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters that Citi sees the UAE as a location with one of the greatest opportunities for increasing market share and that his bank has an ingrained "natural advantage".

"We have seen more competition come into the UAE," he said, not referring to any individual firm.

"Obviously the more competition, the more we have to be on our tiptoes. So it worries me to some extent," he said. "We can't rest on our laurels."

“We are investing selectively," Stiris said. "Investing is not just in terms of just adding more headcount. It's also in terms of just looking at the people we have, and in some cases, just upgrading people."

"There's also investing in terms of capital,” he added.

Elsewhere, JPMorgan is in the early stages of evaluating a move to increase covering midcaps in Turkey.

"Over time, we could look to hire bankers dedicated to midcap clients in the country," Povaly said.

JPMorgan has relocated Tushar Arora, a banker who has been with the U.S. lender for more than a decade, from London to take up a Dubai role as the first in a team to focus on smaller venture capital-backed companies.

The activity follows a push to Poland with the hire of Marcin Pietrucha from Santander, who has built a team based in Warsaw and other hubs.

In parallel, JPMorgan is seeking more midcap business in Austria, headed by banker Philippe Bull based in Frankfurt.

JPMorgan has a large presence in Germany, in part for coverage of the country's medium-sized Mittelstand firms.

JPMorgan has been on an expansion course in Europe. The bank this week officially opened an office in Berlin with space for 400 staff ahead of its launch of a digital retail bank.

Last week, German regulators imposed a record fine on JPMorgan for deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls, reflecting the scale of its operations in the country.

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Louise Heavens)

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