French bank Credit Agricole is to close its office in Bahrain and move its staff to Dubai, International Financing Review (IFR) said on Sunday.

"While sources said that the move has been talked about for some time, they admitted that the unrest which affected the country earlier this year did have some impact on the decision," said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.

"However, while there have been rumours of potential departures, until now, the flow of financial institutions away from the island has been minimal at most," IFR said in a briefing, adding that Credit Agricole did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier in August, Fitch Ratings removed Bahrain from a negative rating watch following the lifting of a state of emergency, after a similar ratings action by Standard & Poor's.  -Reuters