International advice group Blacktower Financial Management Group has announced it is in the final stages of receiving regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
The licence will allow the firm to establish an operation in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The firm said that its financial advisers are “eager to begin a new chapter in Dubai”.
John Westwood, chairman of Blacktower, said: “As part of the group’s continuing growth plans, this is a market we’ve been monitoring closely for some time, and we know there is real opportunity and great potential for the group in Dubai.
“Our goal is to establish a Blacktower presence in Dubai as soon as possible, and we are working towards achieving the highest levels of regulatory approval. We’re excited to get operations up and running to meet the growing need for our global expertise in this new landscape.
“Blacktower is regulated across the globe. The DIFC is the leading financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia offering one of the region’s most comprehensive fintech environments. Being home to an internationally recognised, independent regulator and a proven judicial system with an English common law framework, it provides the Group with another highly desirable location in which to do business.
“The new company will offer a full range of wealth management services in the same fashion as the rest of group. We are keen to build as quickly as possible and acquisitions are very much part of that plan. We have seen success in other markets with this strategy and would expect that to be the case in Dubai as well.”
Blacktower currently has operations across Europe, as well as in the US, the UK, and the Caribbean. This follows Blacktower Financial Management Group receiving a licence to offer advice services in Panama, acquisition of a full broker-dealer licence for its Cayman entity and the group’s expansion into Swiss and Australian markets in 2021.
DIFC demand
The DIFC has attracted several notable financial giants recently and the total number of wealth and asset management companies in the financial centre has increased to over 300.
International Adviser reported that financial services giant Edmond de Rothschild Group, The Family Office and Holborn Assets received DFSA approval to open an advisory office in the DIFC. In March 2023, IA also exclusively revealed that St James’s Place has been given in-principle approval for an DFSA licence.
Some firms which joined the DIFC in 2022 included Nomura, Octogone Group, Continental Group International, Habib Bank, Alpadis Group and Finsbury Wealth.
