By Hadel Al-Sigh and Lawrence White
DUBAI/LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) – Citigroup and Standard Chartered have begun evacuating their Dubai offices, telling staff to work from home instead, sources said on Wednesday, as the banks stepped in as a precaution after Iran threatened Gulf banking interests linked to the United States and Israel.
US financial giant Citigroup told its employees to evacuate offices in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and Dubai’s Oud Meita neighborhood, a memo seen by Reuters sent employees, telling them to work from home until further notice.
A spokesman for the bank said it continues to take measures to keep staff safe and has contingency plans in place to ensure business continuity.
UK Stanchart has a large presence in the UAE, Dubai is now a major financial center for leading international lenders including JPMorgan and HSBC, law firms and asset managers.
A Stanchart spokesman declined to comment.
Separately, HSBC has closed all branches in Qatar until further notice, according to a customer alert, adding that the move was to ensure the safety of employees and customers.
The move came after a spokesman for Tehran’s Khatam al-Anbia military command said on Wednesday that Iran would target economic and banking interests linked to the US and Israel in the region, following an attack on an Iranian bank.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that an administrative building connected to one of Iran’s largest state-owned banks and Bank Sepah, which has historical ties with the military, was hit in Tehran last night.
Many workers at foreign and local businesses were already told by their employers to work from home after Iran fired missiles at targets in the Middle East in response to US and Israeli strikes, causing deaths, injuries and travel disruption.
Dental conflict in Dubai’s safe haven situation
Reuters reported last week that fighting in the region has damaged Dubai’s sales pitch to international businesses as the region’s most important economic hub, prompting fears of capital flight, layoffs and companies relocating.
The creation of the DIFC in 2004 began Dubai’s push to attract financial firms.
By the end of 2025, the DIFC will host more than 290 banks, 102 hedge funds, 500 asset management companies and 1,289 family-owned institutions, marking Dubai’s decades-long transition from a modest fishing port to a glittering global financial center.
Stanchart, which makes nearly 6% of its total revenue in the UAE, according to company filings, has increasingly had senior executives in the region in recent years.
