HSBC Holdings had appointed Samer Deghaili to become the head of its equity capital markets business for the Middle East and North Africa. The appointment was confirmed by the firm's spokesman last Monday, as region's business grows.

Denghaili would be replacing Michael Bevan, who would become the head for Asian sovereign wealth funds in the Hong Kong HSBC headquarters. The move was confirmed by two other sources with knowledge over the appointments, both which were confirmed later by the banks.

The Gulf Arab region's equity capital markets have shown signs of recovery after years of being in the financial doldrums. The growth comes from the increased activity from the financial markets as well as valuations of property and assets. Another sign is the increasing number of inquiries about IPOs and secondary share offerings.

Amongst the best performing markets in the region is Dubai, with an index increase of 65% on year to date. Overall, companies from the Middle East had raised a total of USD3.2 billion from 12 capital market operations for the first six months of 2013. According to Thomson Reuters data, this is a 15% decline from the previous year of USD3.7 billion.