[9] He is known for his role behind Nomura's acquisition of the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) businesses of Lehman Brothers in Oct 2008.
[3][13] Sayeed started his active professional life in 1976[13] as a research associate, and subsequently an internal consultant at the World Bank, where he worked for five years.
[3] In 1985, he joined the London office of Credit Swiss First Boston (CSFB) as an associate within the cross markets arbitrage group.
On 31 March 2008, a consortium – International Finance Corporation (IFC), BankMuscat, Nomura Holdings, and Sinthos Capital; led by senior banker Shaukat Tarin along with Sadeq Sayeed was instrumental in the acquisition of a controlling stake (86.55%) in Saudi Pak Commercial Bank (SPCB), later rebranded as Silk Bank Limited.
[15][16] He rose to prominence during Nomura Holdings's acquisition of the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) assets of Lehman Brothers in Oct 2008.