Dubai or not Dubai is the question – bank boss

The boss of Standard Chartered bank has warned that Dubai risks damaging its status as a financial centre as a result of the trade boycott of Qatar by a Saudi-led bloc that includes the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Standard Chartered is a biglenderacrossthemiddle East and Bill Winters said it could become increasingly difficult for Dubai, the biggest city in the UAE, to act as a regional hub for international companies’ Gulf operations if tension in the region continued.

“There is a lot of benefit we get from having a Dubai hub, we are looking to see what the effect of this will be. There is a risk of turning away from the UAE.”

Dubai’s financial zone has 17 of the world’s top 20 banks.