Bahrain Grants License to Lazard Asset Management
Leading global asset manager to establish presence in Kingdom
Manama, Bahrain 2 July 2008. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has granted a licence to Lazard Asset Management to establish a representative office in Bahrain.
Lazard Asset Management provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients, financial intermediaries and private clients around the world. Its goal is to produce superior risk-adjusted investment returns and provide customised solutions for its clients. It has operations in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Lazard Asset Management will provide asset management advice to clients located in Bahrain and the wider GCC, including both conventional and Shari’a compliant products and services. The representative office in Bahrain will be managed by Edward Remington-Hobbs, Lazard Asset Management's Director of Client Service & Business Development for the Middle East. He will report to Bill Smith, Head of Lazard Asset Management's London office.
The licence was formally ratified at a meeting in Manama hosted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain (EDB) and attended by Bill Smith, Edward Remington-Hobbs and Mr Rasheed Al-Maraj, Governor of CBB, Mr Mohammed Ayman Al Tajer, Director of Financial Institutions, CBB, and Mr Ahmed Bassam, Director of Licensing, CBB. The EDB has played an active role in facilitating the establishment of Lazard Asset Management's presence in the Kingdom.
Bill Smith, Head of Lazard Asset Management's London office, commented:
"Lazard Asset Management has been managing mandates for clients in the Middle East for a number of years, and it has been our intention for some time to establish a presence in the region. We have been delighted with the relationships we have built with many investors in the Middle East. Our new Bahrain office gives us the opportunity to develop these relationships further."
Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain said:
“The EDB is delighted to welcome Lazard Asset Management, one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms to Bahrain. One of our key objectives is to work with leading businesses such as Lazard Asset Management to encourage them to set up in the Kingdom.”
He added: “This move by Lazard Asset Management endorses our position as the natural choice for asset management advisers looking to develop their Gulf business in response to growing regional demand.”
Ashish Bhutani, Chief Executive of Lazard Asset Management added: "We are very pleased about this latest development in our continuing strategy to expand our global footprint and range of world class investment solutions for our clients."
About Lazard Asset Management
An indirect subsidiary of Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ), Lazard Asset Management LLC offers a range of equity, fixed-income, and alternative investment products and solutions for clients worldwide. As of March 31, 2008, Lazard Asset Management and affiliated asset management companies in the Lazard Group managed more than $134 billion worth of client assets.
About The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB)
The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is a dynamic public agency with an overall responsibility for formulating and overseeing the economic development strategy of Bahrain, and for creating the right climate to attract direct investment into the Kingdom.
More information on the Bahrain EDB is available here: www.bahrainedb.com
Bahrain Financial Services Development is a department of the Economic Development Board which is uniquely dedicated to the needs of the financial services industry and provides a single point of contact for international financial services firms looking to build a base in the Kingdom.
More information on Bahrain Financial Services is available here: www.bahrainfs.com
For further information, please contact:
Central Bank of Bahrain:
Nayla Al Khalifa: +973 17547360 - media@cbb.gov.bh
Lazard Asset Management:
Richard Creswell: +44 207 187 2305 – richard.creswell@lazard.com
Economic Development Board of Bahrain / Weber Shandwick:
Stuart McClelland: +44 207 067 0729 - smcclelland@webershandwick.com
