Chief Economist: MENA Will Stand Stronger by the end of 2012

DUBAI, UAE, January 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Steen Jakobsen, Saxo Bank's chief economist, to visit Dubai on 1 February

Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist at Saxo Bank A/S, the online trading and investment specialist, will be visiting Dubai to discuss with financial media and professional investors of Saxo Bank (Dubai) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank A/S, the current market status in light of the recent crisis and the Bank's outlook for the first quarter of 2012.

Saxo Bank's quarterly outlook takes a deeper look at what 2012 holds for various asset classes including; foreign exchange, commodities and equities and the state of the macro economy and how it will be impacted by policy amendments, monetary policy and the current market turmoil. The bank has forecasted that world growth is to slow further in 2012 to 3 percent. Mr. Jakobsen says: "Our common theme for this quarter is a Perfect Storm. Pressures in the Eurozone, public sector austerity and social tensions will all conspire to create the storm, in which no nation will be left untouched."

He believes 2012 could be the most pivotal year by far since the global financial crisis of 2008 and notes that a perfect storm in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area is based on good underlying fundamentals combined with almost imperfect visibility on geopolitical risk.

Mr. Jakobsen says: "We feel confident that MENA will stand stronger on both accounts at the end of 2012 but first we may need to go through a period of increased volatility. This leads us to a very defensive investment outlook not from a fear of the future rather from a high probability of seeing better entry levels during the course of the year."

Steen Jakobsen, a regular guest host and commentator on CNBC, Bloomberg and other networks, has more than 20 years of experience within the fields of proprietary trading and alternative investment. In 1997, he became Global Head of Trading, FX and Options at Christiania (now Nordea) in New York until he joined UBS in New York in 1999 as the Executive Director in the Global Proprietary Trading Group. He joined Saxo Bank in 2000 and after a brief departure to Limus Capital Partners, where he was Chief Investment Officer for two years, he returned to the bank in 2011 as Chief Economist.

About Saxo Bank (Dubai) Ltd

Saxo Bank (Dubai) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank A/S. Saxo Bank (Dubai) Limited is pleased to offer access to Saxo Bank A/S's award-winning trading platforms here in the Middle East. Saxo Bank (Dubai) Ltd is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and services Professional Clients only.

About Saxo Bank A/S

Saxo Bank is a leading online trading and investment specialist. A fully licensed and regulated European bank, Saxo Bank enables private investors and institutional clients to trade FX, CFDs, ETFs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives via three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms; the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application available in over 20 languages. Saxo Bank also offers professional portfolio and fund management through Saxo Asset Management who accommodates high-net worth private clients and institutional investors and provides banking services and advice to retail clients through Saxo Privatbank. The Saxo Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Australia.