The Gulf Bond and Sukuk Association (GBSA), the trade association representing the Arabian Gulf fixed income market, has named a new chair of its steering committee and announced the creation of a sub-committee to further promote asset management within the region as well as the launch of a new Islamic finance practice group.

 

Giambattista Atzeni, senior RM corporate trust MENA and Turkey for BNY Mellon, has been named the new chair of the GBSA steering committee for 2013, succeeding Andrew Dell, head of Central and Eastern Europe Middle East Africa debt capital markets and CEO Africa for HSBC.

 

Atzeni remarked: “The GBSA actively works with governments, regulators, market participants and issuers to identify and promote best practices and together we aim to bring the Gulf markets up to the highest global standards. We continue to work on addressing and resolving the critical issues that are impacting our markets at both national and regional levels.”

 

GBSA president Michael Grifferty, said: “The association will continue to grow its membership in the Gulf while broadening its geographical reach into other Middle East markets.”

 

Jeffrey Singer, CEO of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority delivered a keynote address at the dinner in which he underlined the important role of industry associations, such as the GBSA, in further developing and strengthening the region’s financial services industry and best practices.

 

The GBSA’s sub-committees bring together the leaders of the regional credit markets to create a more collective voice on key issues affecting the industry.

 

The GBSA sub-committees will be chaired in 2013 as follows:

·      Asset management , Abdul Kadir Hussain, chief executive officer, Mashreq Capital

·      Government issuance, Mustafa Aziz Ata, director, global capital markets, HSBC Bank Middle East

·      Investor relations (co-chairs) Declan Sawey, group treasurer, Kuwait Projects Company, and Hussain Zaidi, director, debt capital markets, Standard Chartered Bank

·      Regulatory affairs, Kai Schneider, partner, Latham & Watkins LLC

·      Trading , Mohammed Shafeen, head of credit trading, Emirates-NBD

 

Hussain underlined the importance of the asset management industry for the growth of the regional bond market, “a strong regional buy side for bonds and sukuk is indispensable for the market to grow and reach its full potential”.