Traders and Wall Street executives in the United Arab Emirates are reevaluating their presence in the region as the escalating Iran war poses a threat to the country's safety.
Several hedge funds are reviewing business-continuity arrangements, while global banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. have instructed employees to work from home.
Air defence systems have intercepted projectiles over the skylines of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with debris and smoke visible near high-profile commercial districts and luxury developments.
The attacks have punctured the long-nurtured perception that the UAE was insulated from the volatility of its neighbourhood, an image that has underpinned its rapid rise as a magnet for hedge funds, private capital, and global banks.
Contingency plans are being put in place, with some hedge funds working with employees to secure hotel accommodation outside the Dubai International Financial Centre and exploring evacuation routes via Muscat in Oman.
International financial institutions are moving cautiously, balancing staff safety with the need to provide business continuity to clients.
The UAE's commercial centers are subdued, with roads in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi unusually quiet for a weekend, and supermarkets seeing bouts of panic buying.
The events threaten Dubai's emergence as a hedge-fund hub and Abu Dhabi's expansion as a sovereign-wealth powerhouse, built on a reputation for stability that drew capital during the Arab Spring, the pandemic, and the post-Ukraine influx of wealth.
