RBS ends MidEast equity research tie-up with Dubai’s Rasmala

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest state-owned lender, ended an arrangement with Dubai-based Rasmala Investment Bank Ltd. for equity research on Middle Eastern companies.

“There is no further requirement for the joint arrangement with Rasmala” following RBS’s announcement on Jan. 12 to exit its cash equities business globally, Simon Penney, chief executive officer for the Middle East and Africa, said in an e- mail today. The tie-up was meant to support RBS’s cash equities and equity capital markets business, Penney said. “RBS is committed to its other businesses in the United Arab Emirates,” including corporate banking and the debt capital markets, Bloomberg reported.

RBS was one of the managers for Abu Dhabi-based Dolphin Energy Ltd.’s $1.3 billion bond sale in February and the $500 million Islamic bond offering of Dubai’s Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC in January.

The National newspaper earlier today reported that RBS ended its research tie-up with Rasmala.