Chase Manhattan Bank, part of the US' Chase Manhattan Corporation, has said that it will reduce its treasury unit staff in Bahrain to one from six as of the end of July.

Several other banks have also cut dealing room staff in Bahrain recently to consolidate operations and cut costs. At the end of last year, France's Banque Indosuez moved its treasury unit to London and Swiss Banking Corporation closed its entire offshore banking unit (OBU - MEED 6:12:96). Okasan International, a subsidiary of Japan's Okasan Securities, has also announced the closure of its Bahrain office this year (MEED 6:6:97).

Chase remains prominent in other areas of work in the Gulf. The bank recently arranged Gulf International Bank's (GIB's) first Euronote issue (MEED 18:7:97). It has also jointly arranged several major project financings in the region this year, including Saudi Arabia's Ghazlan power plant and the aromatics scheme planned by Saudi Chevron Petrochemical Company (MEED 4:7:97; 13:6:97).