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Bank of Singapore sets up branch in Dubai financial free zone

Xinhua, November 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bank of Singapore (BoS), a subsidiary of Singapore's second biggest lender OCBC Bank, said here on Tuesday it has been granted a Category 4 licence to operate a branch in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC).

The license allows BoS to offer a range of private banking solutions, including investment, credit and wealth planning advisory.

The official opening of the branch is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017.

Private wealth in the Middle East and Africa is projected to rise at an annual rate of 8.2 percent to reach record high 11.8 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020, 1.4 times higher than the global average.

Starting its first office in Dubai in 1996, BoS said it posted solid growth in the Middle East region over the past three years as "assets under management have doubled and net new money has grown by almost five times."

BoS CEO Bahren Shaari said "with the establishment of a branch in the DIFC, BoS is committed to scaling up our research and advisory capabilities, to better serve high net worth individuals in this region."

Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority, said the arrival of BoS in DIFC indicates a move to ever closer cooperation and a mutual desire to strengthen trade along the South- South corridor.

The DIFC, founded in 2004, aims to pursue expansion into new services and sectors in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions of over 72 countries with about 3 billion people and GDP of 7.8 trillion dollars, said the DIFC. Endit