Dubai, March 10, 2026, 01:10 GST
HSBC Holdings Plc said on Monday its confidence in Gulf economies was unchanged despite the Iran conflict. The public show of support matters because a Reuters calculation from company figures showed its UAE and Saudi businesses have contributed about 5% of group profits a year over the past five years. 1
The statement lands in the middle of Chief Executive Georges Elhedery’s overhaul. HSBC has reorganised along East-West lines, started 11 business exits and lifted its profitability target to 17% or better through 2028. 2
“Our conviction in the GCC’s fundamentals and its future is unchanged,” Elhedery said, referring to the six-country Gulf bloc. He said HSBC still saw long-term resilience and promise in the region. 3
That bet is already showing up in products. In January, HSBC launched a UAE asset-management business and 10 onshore, or locally domiciled, funds, with regional wealth head Dinesh Sharma saying the push was about “capturing the significant and long-term wealth opportunity in the UAE.” 4
The timing is awkward. Dubai’s main share index closed 2.8% lower on Monday as oil jumped more than 11% on fears the war could keep disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that normally carries roughly one-fifth of global oil supply. 5
HSBC’s tone also contrasts with some peers. JPMorgan and Citigroup told Middle East staff to work from home last week, while Standard Chartered asked employees to delay travel to the region and separately raised its 2026 Brent forecast, saying upside risk would grow if the conflict spread. 6
That does not mean banks face a big direct hit to their books. Pedro Machado, a senior European Central Bank supervisor, told Reuters exposures to the war zone were “pretty contained,” but warned that higher energy prices could still bring “recessionary potential impacts”; Aberdeen chief economist Paul Diggle said the global cycle could feel “more stagflationary” — weaker growth with stubborn inflation — if oil stays high. 7
Client money flows are another unknown. Reuters reported last week that some wealthy Asians were exploring shifts out of Dubai; Singapore private wealth lawyer Ryan Lin said one client wanted to know how fast they could “transfer everything to Singapore,” while Dubai-based WRISE Private Middle East chief executive Dhruba Jyoti Sengupta said he had not seen “serious capital flight discussions.” 8
