Financial services giant Edmond de Rothschild Group has opened an advisory office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
With a category 4 advisory licence regulated by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), Edmond de Rothschild (Middle East) will be able to locally advise clients and give them access to the entire group’s offerings.
Ali Raza Syed, senior executive officer of Edmond de Rothschild (Middle East), will be leading the office in the DIFC. He reports to Saman Habibian, chairman and market leader Middle East and Africa at Edmond de Rothschild (Middle East).
The firm has a number of private banking and wealth management hubs including Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and now the UAE.
Ariane de Rothschild, chair of the board at the Edmond de Rothschild Group, said: “For more than 250 years, our bank has helped clients preserve and grow their assets by combining performance and sustainability, while approaching investments with a pioneering mindset. Expanding our presence in the UAE was a natural choice, given Dubai’s spectacular growth for a long time along with DIFC’s expertise and world-class services.
“Moreover, most of our clients in the region have family-driven business models and their success is based on innovation, strong convictions and action. We share their entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit in proactively addressing present and future needs and challenges.”
Habibian added: “Dubai is a leading financial and economic centre offering unprecedented opportunities, and where the group has been developing its client base for the past 10 years. This opening enables our clients in the region, including the expat community based in Dubai, to further capitalise on our international expertise, particularly in the private markets.”
Demand for the DIFC
This comes at a time where many financial services groups are looking to set up in the DIFC.
The number of DFSA-regulated financial entities grew to 590 with 89 financial service firms authorised in 2022. This is up from 51 authorised in 2021.
Some firms which joined the DIFC in 2022 included Nomura, Octogone Group, Continental Group International, Habib Bank, Alpadis Group and Finsbury Wealth.
