Exness

MOHAMAD IBRAHIM

Regional Director (MENA) at Exness

Mohamad Ibrahim Regional Director (MENA) at Exness

Q What was the Lebanese FX scene like when you first got into FX over 10 years ago?

Lebanon has a rich and diverse history and was once even referred to as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”. The Lebanese banking system was one of the most renowned in the region, where the financial stability supported the flow of massive amounts to Lebanese banks.

FX brokers enjoyed a golden age as people had savings and were eager to make more money. This made Beirut serve as a regional hub for FX brokers. Unfortunately, the mismanagement of the banking sector, the development of widespread economic struggle as well as a deep debt crisis, led to commercial banks having to suspend international transfers and applying partial capital control; this resulted in Lebanese traders and investors being disconnected from global markets. The huge explosion that occurred in the port of Beirut in August 2020, along with the Covid-19 crisis, corruption and poverty, are now suffocating the country’s financial system. As a result, brokers who had their regional offices in the country for years, decided to withdraw and cease their operations.

The transformation that is required is not only about online trading; the entire Lebanese financial services system needs to adapt. We need to see serious changes take place in the leadership and running of the country for significant improvements to take place and encourage foreign investments back into Lebanon.

Q How does the scene in Dubai differ?

Dubai has impressed the rest of the world when it comes to how they are handling the Covid-19 crisis. After enforcing very strict lockdown measures where citizens had to apply for a permit to leave their homes, the Emirate quickly had an open-door policy (as long as a negative PCR test was presented on arrival).

These changes happened just a few months after the pandemic hit us. Now a year on we’re even seeing events such as the iFXExpo move from Cyprus to Dubai which demonstrates the country’s willingness to keep on transforming its economy. Dubai was chosen due to its location and openness to attract international businesses. Exness were the Official Global Partners of the event as we wanted to show our support for the expo in the region.

With this kind of support from the industry and the UAE as a country, the possibilities to grow a successful business in the region, especially an online trading brokerage, are limitless.

Q Years ago the Middle East market was the place to be for the big ticket clients. Is this still the case?

Absolutely. I believe it is more the case now than ever before. The Middle East has been attracting attention with its high-profile events that are drawing in international investors to the region. The first-ever Formula 1 in Saudi Arabia, the World Cup in Qatar and the World Expo in the UAE are drawing a whole new focus to the region. Abu Dhabi has also been hosting its annual Formula 1 event here since November 2009 which has seen brokerages invite their VIP clients to the corporate hospitality suites for years.

cies for real estate purchases and also as a payment option for trade licenses and visa fees.

Q You are a specialist in developing business globally. From your experience, how different is the MENA region from the rest of the world and how different is each country in the region when you are building the brand?

Exness has achieved record figures lately and is growing at exponential rates both geographically and product-wise. The brand is already well established in Europe and Asia meaning there are some solid foundations that ensure we will be successful when expanding into the Middle East. The UAE is one of the most flexible countries to set up a Forex and CFD brokerage. This as well as the substantial support I’m receiving from the Exness HQ has allowed me to develop a coherent growth strategy to launch the brand in the region.

The UAE seems to be extending its efforts to welcome international business as the Minister of Economy, Abdulla Bin Touq Al-Marri recently said in an interview that the UAE aims to double its economy to 3 trillion dirhams ($816.82 billion) over the next decade. They welcome international brokerages with open arms and want to open up access to the region’s investors.

Of course, the region extends beyond just the UAE. The MENA region consists of 20+ countries including the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to other potential countries like Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. There are a lot of similarities but when you look closer each country is also very unique in terms of how financial institutions are run and how foreign brokerages can establish themselves. Of course, the Arabic language and some customs change slightly from country to country as well.

Q Can you just have one marketing message to cover the entire region?

It all depends on the broker’s individual vision and values. Exness places a strong focus on transparency, reliability, and innovation – both internally and externally. I believe this is what differentiates Exness from the competition and enables growth year after year. At Exness, we integrate our company values

in all our messaging. So, when we develop our marketing messages in the region of course we will adjust to local customs and cultures, but our marketing message will always be formed around our core values.

Q From our experience, doing business in the MENA region does focus quite heavily on meeting people face to face. How has being locked down impacted this?

It’s true the MENA region does place a lot of value on meeting people in person. The rapport that is built through personal connections is paramount to business success in this part of the world. Human connection, referrals and recommendations are some of the highest sought after ways companies receive new business in the region. Nothing is more valuable than a satisfied client that recommends you to a friend or family member – it’s truly the best compliment we could receive and what we strive for on a daily basis.

We did feel the impact of the lockdown and the pandemic to start with, mainly due to everything happening so quickly, but we soon adapted. Our ways of communicating with clients and offering support 24 hours a day have always been digital, so in this sense not much had to change and our interaction with our traders continued to be seamless.

Q What separates your brand from the multitude of others in the MENA region?

There are many things which differentiate us but I think the most important is our company philosophy. At Exness we provide our clients with the most efficient trading experience, which is a perfect fusion of ethics and technology. This has always been part of our core ideology and guides our product development from start to finish. Our “better-than-market” trading conditions, pricing and execution also make us stand out from the competition, as these are very steady even during unpredictable market conditions.

Q What’s the best way for readers to contact you?

The Game Changers readers can reach me via my social media pages listed below any time. I look forward to them getting in touch and answering any further questions they may have or elaborating on the above.