JPMorgan names Omar Fichtali as new investment banking head in Saudi Arabia: Report

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has appointed Omar El Amine Fichtali as head of investment banking in Saudi Arabia, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

The move comes weeks after one of the lender’s top bankers in the kingdom, Fahad al-Deweesh, left to join Citigroup Inc. as competition for banking talent in the region’s biggest economy heats up.

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El Amine Fichtali joined JPMorgan’s London office in 2007 with a focus on technology, media and telecommunications investment banking and has worked in various roles with the Middle East and North Africa investment banking team in Dubai and Riyadh.

He will work closely with Bader Alamoudi, senior country officer for Saudi Arabia, and Khalid Fayez, head of corporate banking for JPMorgan in the Kingdom.

A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the contents of the memo.

Saudi Arabia is becoming an increasingly important market for global banks as the Kingdom embarks on a plan to diversify its economy away from oil by selling stakes in state-owned companies and investing in new industries.

Even as the global financial community contends with layoffs and lower bonuses, banking jobs remain plentiful in the kingdom and salaries are surging.

Wealth funds such as the Public Investment Fund are also actively recruiting.

JPMorgan is working on Saudi Arabia’s biggest initial public offering of the year so far, the $336 million float of generic drugmaker Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co.

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