Goldman Sachs Among Banks Shifting Dubai Staff to Remote Work Amid Iran Strikes

The ICD Brookfield tower in Dubai's financial district, a Foster + Partners skyscraper that ordinarily hums with the activity of BlackRock, Bank of America, JPMorgan, EY, and BNP Paribas, stood empty this week. Two consecutive strikes attributed to Iran targeted the Dubai International Financial Centre, and the banks that anchor the district responded by pulling their people out.

Regional hubs for Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Standard Chartered ordered staff to work from home after Iran signaled it would target economic centers and U.S.-linked financial institutions across the Middle East. The moves came as the UAE mobilized air defenses and authorities sought to project stability in a city that, by most accounts, remained "functioning but tense."

Dubai's media office confirmed the strikes had occurred but said no injuries resulted. The broader context driving the tension: Dubai has come under attack from Iran as the country responds to U.S. and Israeli strikes, a conflict that Reuters captured in a screengrab dated March 3 showing smoke billowing near the U.S. Consulate in Dubai.

For the financial sector, the practical consequence was a ghosted DIFC. The ICD Brookfield building, which Jad Ellawn oversees as Managing Partner and Regional Head of the Middle East at Brookfield, was among the most visible symbols of the drawdown. CNBC reported the building was "usually bustling with bankers but is currently empty."

What makes this moment notable for anyone watching global bank operations is the speed and breadth of the response. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Standard Chartered did not wait for a direct hit on their offices. The stated Iranian intent to strike U.S.-linked financial institutions was enough to trigger remote-work orders across multiple institutions simultaneously, effectively shutting down one of the Middle East's most prominent banking corridors without a single reported casualty.

The UAE, alongside other countries in the region, activated air defense systems. Whether those systems fully intercepted the strikes on the DIFC, and what physical damage if any was sustained, had not been confirmed in detail by Dubai's media office beyond the assurance that no one was hurt.

How long the remote-work posture holds depends on how the broader conflict between Iran and U.S.-Israeli forces develops. For Goldman Sachs employees in Dubai, Thursday was a day of working from wherever felt safe, while the tower they usually fill sat quiet in a district that is still, for now, open for business.