Wall Street banks pull back from Middle East SPACs

Citigroup will be very cautious in accepting new SPAC mandates in the region, although it won’t pull back completely and could step up work depending on how the final rules in the United States look, the people added, who asked not to be identified in discussing private matters.

NEW YORK: Wall Street banks are rethinking their involvement in the listings of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the Middle East’s nascent market, as new liability guidelines from US regulators chill the once red-hot industry.

Middle East SPAC sponsors such as Gulf Capital and Investcorp were initially in talks with Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp respectively, but they are likely to rely on local banks to finalise the deal, according to people familiar with the matter.