Article at a glance:

Capturing opportunities in the Gulf's financial sector

• Multinational financial institutions have been active in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states since before the 1950s, but few such institutions have identified the region as a growth opportunity.
• The GCC’s population is only 35 million, and its share of global banking assets is less than 1 percent. Until recently, its economic prospects paled by comparison with those of emerging markets such as China and India.
• But now the GCC’s oil boom is driving liquidity into the region and producing sizable investment opportunities. Foreign firms must rely on scale and experience to exploit them.