UBS has lost several senior wealth management bankers in the Middle East, less than two years after hiring them.

Among those departing the Swiss bank are Rana Al Emam and Ali Khunji, who joined UBS from HSBC Holdings in 2024 to expand the bank’s wealth business in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Al Emam moved to Banco Santander, while Khunji joined J. Safra Sarasin earlier this year, Bloomberg reports.

The moves are a visible indicator of the intense competition for talent in regional wealth management, though some firms have been recently scaling back since the war with Iran started.

The UAE emirate of Sharjah and Oman have launched a new sea-and-land logistics corridor to diversify Gulf trade routes amid the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

The arrangement allows goods to cross borders more easily, giving access to Oman’s east coast ports of Sohar, Duqm and Salalah, The National reports.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, Gulf countries have ramped up trucking routes to allow free movement of goods via alternative routes.

Dubai’s new “green corridor” with Oman has become a vital trade artery, with customs declarations surging from 12,000 in March to almost 100,000 in April.

Oman India Fertiliser Co. is weighing an IPO that could value the company at more than $2.5 billion, potentially making it one of the sultanate’s biggest stock offerings.

The fertilizer producer, which is backed by the Oman Investment Authority and the Indian government, is planning to raise several hundred million dollars, with shareholders selling a combined stake of about 25%, Bloomberg reports.

It comes amid a rally in fertilizer prices driven by the regional conflict and would offer a welcome boost for both the Muscat exchange and the wider Middle East region, where deal flow had already started to slow down before the war began.

Société Générale, Arqaam Capital Ltd. and Bank Muscat SAOG are among the arrangers working on the deal. 

Anticipating future shipping headaches in the Strait of Hormuz, the UAE is accelerating plans to build a new pipeline that can bypass the Iran-blocked waterway.

Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed issued an order on Thursday to fast-track construction of the ADNOC pipeline aimed at expanding the UAE’s capacity to transport oil for export through the Gulf of Oman.

The national petroleum company’s existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline already carries as much as 1.8 million barrels a day to the Indian Ocean coast, avoiding the narrow Hormuz channel, The Wall Street Journal reports. But that’s only about half the country’s prewar daily oil output.

Sheikh Khaled’s order comes a month after Saudi Arabia restored its East-West oil pipeline to full capacity, fixing damage linked to the Iran conflict that disrupted flows across the kingdom. Repairs to the pipeline, which runs from oil fields in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, enabled the kingdom to service customers amid skyrocketing oil prices.

The new pipeline project, scheduled for completion in 2027, follows the UAE’s withdrawal from OPEC, which will allow it to increase production and meet the war-related rise in global demand for oil and gas.

Abu Dhabi’s rapidly expanding L’imad Group and ADNOC oil company are teaming up with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and Singapore’s Temasek sovereign wealth fund to invest as much as $30 billion in logistics and energy projects.

The four firms issued a statement today saying that funding for future deals across the MENA region and in Central Asia will come from BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, along with L’imad, Temasek and ADNOC.

The massive combination of capital demonstrates the ambitious agenda of L’imad, the UAE’s newest sovereign fund, which emerged last year when it acquired most of ADQ’s holdings and now manages about $300 billion in assets.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink cultivated some goodwill last month when he visited the UAE in the middle of Iran war and met with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to discuss strengthening investment partnerships.

L’imad made a splash in December when it joined Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority in backing Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s state-owned defense contractor EDGE Group signed an agreement today to acquire a majority stake in Italy’s Costruzioni Motori Diesel, which specializes in developing advanced propulsion systems for road vehicles, ships and aircraft.

AI Chipmaker Cerebras Systems, a central partner in the UAE’s AI ambitions, has raised $5.5 billion ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq today, in the biggest IPO in the U.S. this year.

The California-based startup, which counts UAE tech investor G42 and Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence among its biggest customers, priced its shares at $185 each, valuing the company at about $40 billion.

G42, which is chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, bought about 1% of Cerebras for $40 million in 2021, meaning it stands to reap a substantial paper windfall in the IPO.

Earlier this year, Cerebras made a $10 billion deal to supply Sam Altman’s OpenAI with more than 750 megawatts of computing power over three years.

Dubai Taxi Company has agreed to acquire rival National Taxi for $395 million, strengthening its position in the UAE market.

The deal will lift DTC’s Dubai market share to 59% and expand its presence into Abu Dhabi, with the combined fleet expected to exceed 14,000 vehicles.

National Taxi operates more than 2,700 vehicles across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain. 

The deal will also see the integration of digital platforms as DCT expands its driverless taxi services, following its partnership with China’s Baidu to launch more than 1,000 autonomous vehicles on Dubai’s roads.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Manchester City F.C. and Group CEO of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, hailed the development of women’s soccer in the U.K. on Wednesday at the launch of a £10 million ($13.5 million) training center for Manchester City’s women’s team.

“This new facility marks the next logical step in our long-term commitment to Manchester City Women, and is an important milestone for the club as a whole,” Al Mubarak said in a statement.

The 17,000-square-foot building – opening after Manchester City Women was crowned champion of the Barclays Women’s Super League last week – includes a specialized gym, medical and rehabilitation suites, and a circular dressing room designed to “strengthen team cohesion.”

Manchester City is owned primarily by the City Football Group, which is controlled by the Abu Dhabi United Group. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, the UAE Vice President and owner of Abu Dhabi United, bought Manchester City in 2008. U.S.-based private equity firm Silver Lake owns a minority stake in City Football Group after investing $500 million in 2019.