Cantor Plans to Hire Dozens of Bankers in Middle East Push

by Nicolas Parasie, Laura Gardner Cuesta of Bloomberg News, 9/5/25

Cantor Fitzgerald LP is planning to hire dozens of bankers in the Middle East in the coming years after the Wall Street firm appointed a veteran EFG Hermes rainmaker to lead its business in the region.

Cantor appointed Ali Khalpey as head of its Middle East investment banking and capital markets business, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. He is taking charge as Cantor looks to build out a 25 to 50-person team in the region, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The Middle East represents a significant growth opportunity for Cantor,” co-chief executive officers Pascal Bandelier and Sage Kelly said in the memo. Khalpey’s “leadership will be instrumental in expanding our footprint and delivering tailored capital markets solutions to clients in the Middle East.”

Cantor has been expanding its geographic presence in recent years. The New York-based bank, run for decades by Howard Lutnick until he left this year to become commerce secretary under US President Donald Trump, also hired around 15 investment bankers and traders in Germany as part of its push to expand its presence in European markets.

Cantor is now in the hands of Lutnick’s sons and trusted lieutenants. Under Trump, clients have been turning to the boutique investment bank to help navigate the White House agenda and spot money-making opportunities.

The firm is also looking to expand into markets such as Saudi Arabia and India, according to the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information.

Khalpey will start in the newly created role in October and will be based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to the memo. He was most recently head of equity capital markets at EFG Hermes, one of the top arrangers of share sales in the Middle East.

With the moves, Cantor becomes the latest investment bank to build out its presence in the Gulf region, joining the likes of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Lazard Inc., which have both been hiring or opening new offices. Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it is planning to add more than 100 staffers to its businesses across the Middle East in the coming years.

The Middle East has emerged as one of the busiest markets for initial public offerings globally, as governments push to broaden capital markets by selling stakes in state-owned companies and encouraging private firms to list. Gulf issuers have raised about $5.7 billion from IPOs so far this year.

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Bloomberg News provided this article. For more articles like this please visit bloomberg.com.

Cantor Plans to Hire Dozens of Bankers in Middle East Push

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