Awards for Excellence 2019
Long considered for this top award but never quite able to clinch the prize, EFG Hermes is this year’s best investment bank in the Middle East, owing to the spectacular transformation of its business.
The Egyptian institution, whose dominance in the Egyptian equity capital markets did not spread further afield, has earned a name for itself across the region, demonstrating a breadth of ambition under CEO Karim Awad that is now bearing fruit across every division of the bank.
It is no small feat for EFG to have overtaken some of the world’s leading financial institutions, which have long been the powerhouses in the Middle East.
Ali Khalpey |
For one, EFG has built a frontier business virtually from scratch, under the leadership of Exotix recruit Ali Khalpey, by opening offices in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Nigeria, all in just over a year. EFG may now spread its wings further in Asia, and perhaps even Latin America.
EFG’s sell-down of Credit Libanais, a legacy asset that had weighed it down, has also proven a judicious decision, freeing up capital to invest in growth projects.