“The Middle East, specifically the UAE, has always been an integral part of our business,” said Bank of Singapore’s chief executive, Bahren Shaari. “The setting up of this branch in DIFC further strengthens our franchise and commitment to serve the burgeoning population of ultra high and high net worth individuals in this region.”

Bank of Singapore has operated in the Middle East for over 20 years, having opened its representative office in Dubai in 1996 before the DIFC was set up in 2004.

The new branch, with 75 members of staff, is led by Kirit Chauhan, who joined the bank in 2014 as market head for the Middle East, Sub-Continent and Africa.

He reports to Derrick Tan, Bank of Singapore’s global market head for Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Sub-Continent and the Middle East.

Bank of Singapore said it has doubled its assets under management and boosted its net new money in the Middle East region by almost five-fold in the last three years.

“This is an exciting time for the wealth management industry in Middle East,” Chauhan said. “There is clearly potential for this market to develop and flourish. Having a branch in DIFC, the leading financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, offers Bank of Singapore an ideal platform to tap on this potential and expand our business further.”

Regulators gave Bank of Singapore approval to open an office in the DIFC in November 2016, as reported by this publication here.