BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), opens new tab is planning to reduce headcount in Bahrain and scrap Manama as its Middle East and Africa head office, after deciding that all of its local offices in the region would report to Paris, two sources close to the matter said. Staff were told during a conference call this week that the changes would lead to a reduction in the workforce in Bahrain by early next year, one of the sources said. The decision by France’s biggest bank to do away with an MEA headquarters comes as competition intensifies between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for regional financial dominance. BNP Paribas, which has offices in these three cities as well as in Kuwait, Qatar, and Morocco, wants to avoid the appearance of favouring any of the cities in the growing regional rivalry, one of the sources said. The bank has been boosting its sovereign wealth fund coverage teams in both Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, the source added. The bank said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday that it “has been operating in Bahrain for over 50 years” and that it “will maintain its significant […]