Arqaam partners with Marco Polo to extend opportunities in Egypt to US-based investors

Arqaam Capital is partnering with Marco Polo Securities to serve US-based institutional investors seeking to capture growing investment opportunities in Egypt, the company said in a statement yesterday (pdf). The Marco Polo platform “enables the global trading of exchange listed securities as well as international distribution of locally originated private placements and M&A products.” Arqaam COO Dennis Wijsmuller says the partnership “will work towards providing US based investors with Arqaam’s thought-provoking and value added research, along with corporate access and seamless execution in the Egyptian equity markets.” The news is the latest sign of intensifying competition for the trading business of US funds with an interest in Egypt: Beltone Financial acquired a majority stake in Auerbach Grayson last year and EFG Hermes poached Wall Street veteran Karim Baghdady to head its new US office.