HSBC in the Middle East has been awarded three awards at the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence, which took place in Doha, Qatar. The bank picked up Winner awards for Best Debt House in the Middle East and Best Cash Management House in the Middle East, as well as Best Investment Bank in Saudi Arabia, HSBC has cemented its position as the largest and most widely represented wholesale and investment bank in the region. Collecting the award for Best Investment Bank in Saudi Arabia, Timothy Gray, CEO of HSBC Saudi Arabia, said: “Saudi Arabia is the largest and most important economy in the Middle East. We are therefore particularly delighted that Euromoney has recognized HSBC's longevity, commitment, market leadership and quality of service in investment and wholesale banking with this award.” In its citation for Best Debt House, Euromoney praised the banks ability to raise significant capital in the midst of the global financial crisis, “HSBC has also helped arrange loans for entities as diverse as Egypt's Orascom Telecom, state property company Qatari Diar, Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the government of Sharjah in the UAE. Its sukuks included an innovative $267m local currency deal for the Saudi Bin Laden Group, an unrated deal that HSBC distributed entirely within Saudi Arabia.” “2008 was a year of unprecedented crisis and volatility in the global capital markets, and the Middle East was hit with the full brunt of the global crisis in the final quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 - the second half of the judging period for the awards,” said Rajiv Shukla, managing director for Debt Capital Markets Middle East. “These challenging circumstances make this award all the more satisfying,” he added. In recognizing HSBC as the Best Cash Management Bank in the Middle East, Euromoney cited its continued investment and development in the region, “HSBC is the undisputed leader - a position that might be shown, for example, in its support of Dubai International Financial Centre's development of a new settlement system for dollar clearing in the UAE.” Euromoney also noted that the bank continued to pick up a number of major new clients through its ongoing product development program. __
