Simmons & Simmons has transferred two finance partners from its London office to Dubai, bringing its combined finance practice in the Gulf to five partners.

The firm has relocated banking and restructuring partner Philip Abbott, who now heads the firm's Middle East financial markets department, and debt capital markets lawyer Natalie Boyd. 

The timely relocations of the finance partners come just as the Gulf region continues to develop as a competitive financial hub, while the UK markets suffer from the downturn of the financial crisis. The Gulf region will soon welcome the arrival of the three major international banks - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Deutsche Bank and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China - that were awarded licences to operate in the UAE last month.

Jeremy Hoyland, head of the firm's finance practice, said that the relocations respond to growth in the region. “It has always been part of our medium and long term strategies to focus on developing parts of the world and ensure that we have the capacity and expertise in the countries our clients are targeting for future growth,” he said. “In the current market we can now also see opportunities for clients who are headquartered in the Middle East to become more influential internationally and our additional partner involvement ensures we are well placed to support them.”

A similar move was carried out by Latham & Watkins last month, which appointed White & Case's London - based finance counsel, Maysa Ibrahim, to its Dubai office.