John Iossifidis, Mashreq's head of corporate and investment banking said that he expects the bank’s wholesale operations to grow 25 to 30% above the market in 2016 as it targets lending across new sectors. He said that Mashreq’s balance sheet was relatively flat in 2015. However since then credit spreads have widened and structures have improved, which he believes would places the bank in a good position to grow in 2016. Since Iossifidis'  was appointment at the end of March 2015, Mashreq has overhauled the structure of its wholesale bank to bring in more exposure to real estate, non-bank financial institutions, education, healthcare and multinational companies across the region to try to better reflect the diversity of the local economy. (Reuters)