Icelandic investment bank Kaupthing has been granted a licence to operate in Dubai, joining a host of Wall Street heavyweights in the Middle East where advisory mandates are expected to top $1 trillion (€709bn) over the next decade.

Kaupthing's new office in the Dubai International Financial Centre will initially provide investment banking and asset management services. It joins more than 420 companies which have joined the DIFC since it launched in 2004 and becomes the first lender from the Nordic region to set up in the emirate.