In line with its stated strategy of deploying the Firm's comprehensive resources to the Middle East and North Africa region, Morgan Stanley today reaffirmed its commitment to the region with the announcement of two important steps:
- the intention to submit a licence application to the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, with a view to establishing an office in the Qatar Financial Centre.
- the appointment of May Nasrallah as head of Morgan Stanley's Investment Banking Division for the Middle East and North Africa region. Ms Nasrallah will be relocating to the region in her new role.
"I am delighted that May Nasrallah will be heading up the Firm's Investment Banking Division in the region; it is one of our most strategic businesses and an area with significant growth potential", added Dr Georges Makhoul, Morgan Stanley's regional head for the Middle East and North Africa. "May is a very talented banker with considerable experience across different product lines and geographies and she will play a leading role in enhancing and expanding our investment banking efforts regionally."
Morgan Stanley has been active with clients in the Middle East region since the 1970s and the Firm intends to offer a comprehensive range of services in the region, including investment banking, capital markets, sales and trading, commodities, investment management, and private wealth management. The Firm recently announced its intention to open an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre and has recently joined the Dubai International Financial Exchange.
"Clients in the region are looking for sophisticated solutions to their increasingly complex financial needs", said May Nasrallah. "To be involved in building and leading Morgan Stanley's investment banking business in the region is therefore a great opportunity, and one to which I am very much looking forward."
NOTES TO EDITORS
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management and credit services. With over 600 offices in 28 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capital to help clients achieve their financial aspirations.
Morgan Stanley in the Middle East
Morgan Stanley has been active in the Middle East region since the 1970s, providing a variety of investment banking, asset management and wealth management services. Recent transactions in the region include:
- Acted as Global Coordinator and Sole Structuring Advisor for the issuance of $1.55bn Notes for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)
- Acted as Joint Bookrunner for €4.8bn accelerated bookbuild offerings for KPC's Sanofi-Aventis shares in two separate transactions
- Created a consortium for Saudi Oger in its $6.55bn acquisition of the 55% stake in Turk Telecom
- Acted as Joint Bookrunner for Mashreqbank's two Floating Rate Notes offerings totalling $625MM
- Currently executing as joint global coordinator the recently announced IPO for Kingdom Hotels Investment (KHI)
- Currently executing as joint Bookrunner on the upcoming IPO for Showtime Arabia
May Nasrallah is a Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for the Middle East and North Africa Region responsible for overseeing the full range of investment banking services including advisory and capital raising for Middle Eastern clients. Prior to this, May was responsible for Morgan Stanley's European and EEMEA Liability Management and Restructuring business, based in London. May joined Morgan Stanley in New York in 1994 in the Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Group and later moved to the project finance advisory group. She then joined the high yield capital markets group where she focused on emerging markets. In 2000, May moved to the London office where she became responsible for European corporate leveraged financings for telecom, media and industrial companies. May graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. She received her Master's Degree in Management from MIT's Sloan School of Management.