French bank Credit Agricole is planning to close down its Mena mergers and acquisitions (M&A) business in Dubai and move the operations back to its Paris office, an executive at the bank said on Tuesday.

'The move will affect around 5 to 6 people,' Bernard Mignucci, senior country officer for the UAE, told Reuters.

Mignucci added that the affected employees had been offered other roles within the bank but most had declined and now were pursuing other opportunities.

In May, the bank lost its top investment banker in the region, Albert Momdjian, to Swiss bank UBS.-Reuters