Last year was when the Gulf region realised that the global debt crisis was not just about Western financial problems, such as Lehmans, Madoff and Bear Stearns. For the global debt crisis was also about Dubai World, the stalled sukuk market and failed Saudi conglomerates. Last year was when any complacency in the Gulf region about the need for proper risk management structures, transparency and best practice was swept away, propelling them up the agenda for reform.

In fact, the problems encountered in the Gulf region last year turned out to be the same as any elsewhere in the world, with a few of its own added into the mix. Henry Azzam, chief executive of Deutsche Bank’s MENA operations, who opened the Global Investor / isf 2010 Gulf region Securities Finance Masterclass held in Dubai, said the Dubai debt crisis (dubbed ‘25/11’) demonstrated an...