Top bankers at UBS and Credit Suisse, including UBS’s investment bank president Andrea Orcel, have started the second half of the year in style – working on what is set to be the largest M&A deal in the Middle East on record.

The boards of First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi have recommended a merger to their shareholders that will create the biggest bank in the Middle East and North Africa, with assets of 642 billion dirhams ($175 billion) and a market capitalisation of 106.9 billion dirhams.