August 4, 2013: MENACORP, the UAE's leading investment bank, has announced that it has recruited several high-profile senior professionals to its brokerage division operating in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to increase its total of front-office brokerage professionals to 35. The premier financial services group now has the largest brokerage force in the country and one of the largest in the MENA region.

The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority requires a minimum of two brokers per brokerage firm; most of the UAE's 50 locally-based firms currently employ a maximum of four. MENACORP's brokerage team is thus far above both the industry standard and actual practice and will exceptionally drive its sales capabilities moving forward.

Official data published by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on August 1, 2013 ranks MENACORP first among 50 competitors on the combined UAE markets with a share of 13.2  per cent on the DFM and 10.5 per cent on the ADX.

Nabil Al Rantisi, Managing Director of  Brokerage, MENACORP, said: “Building up the largest brokerage force in the UAE and probably the largest in the MENA region gives MENACORP a strong competitive edge and unparalleled market insights. We would like to note that our new recruits are all high-profile, seasoned senior professionals with solid credentials and excellent reputations in the UAE markets.  They bring to the company a wealth of experience that will keep us at the top of the UAE markets.”

“If market conditions allow it, then we aim to further build up our front-office staff to 50 in the near future. This will allow us to cover all the markets of the MENA region as well as forex, commodities, and other international products,” he added.

The new recruits include Talal Al Batayneh, former Head of Trading at Al Ramz Securities who will now be MENACORP's Deputy Managing Director Brokerage, Equity Sales; Raed Salameh, previously Senior Markets Strategist for Al Ramz Securities who has been appointed Head of Trading, Equity Sales Dubai Office; Yahya Issawi, the former Head of Sales at Mubasher who will now be the Head of Retail Equity Sales; and Firas Al Zghaibi, MENACORP's new Markets Strategist  who previously worked for Mubasher as Senior Investment Advisor.

Rounding off the list are Hesham Khairy, the new Head of Trading, Equity Sales Institutional Clients who was formerly VP – Institutional Sales Trader – Foreign Clients of EFG Hermes ; Ashraf Amin, a former Trading Manager  at  Al Safwa Islamic Financial Services who will now assume the post of Senior Manager, Equity Sales Islamic Desk; Samer Al Affouri, who came from Al Damman Securities as Branch Manager of the ADX Branch and who will now act as Senior Manager, Equity Sales; and Ayman Alsatari, the new Head of Trading International Products, DGCX who was formerly General Manager Forex with Al Brooge Forex Broker.

“Attracting the best talents is the cornerstone of our growth strategy. We are excited to work with such qualified and experienced professionals. Our brokerage division has been achieving unprecedented results in the industry since the creation of the DFM and the ADX and I am confident that the newest members of our team coming from some of the most reputed firms in the UAE will help us accelerate the pace of our growth and enable us to deliver better services to our clients,” said Fathi Ben Grira, CEO, MENACORP.

Abu Dhabi –based MENACORP is an award-winning investment bank authorized and regulated by the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. It provides world-class expertise in financial advisory, brokerage, asset management and financial research. Maintaining the best workforce has been vital to the group's sustained industry leadership.