UBS to open Abu Dhabi office as more clients move to the Middle East

UBS Group AG is opening a new office in Abu Dhabi as the European banking giant seeks to capitalise on the flood of wealthy individuals leaving countries like the UK for low-tax cities across the Middle East. 

The efforts by sovereign wealth funds to diversify regional economies away from oil and to develop an investment corridor with Asia have also helped make the region attractive to legions of ultra-rich individuals, according to Beatriz Martin Jimenez, who is president of the bank’s businesses across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

“The Middle East has definitely been a winner for private individuals that have been moving away from higher-tax regimes, other places and other locations like the UK,” Martin Jimenez said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday. “We’ve seen that migration of clients.”

UBS, which is known for its wealth management offerings globally, already operates offices elsewhere in the Gulf, including in Dubai, Riyadh, Qatar, and Bahrain. 

The decision to open a new office comes as Abu Dhabi has emerged as a magnet for the world’s wealthiest people over the past few years. The emirate’s financial center has fielded a rush of inquiries from the UK, where the Labour government has rolled back preferential tax treatment for so-called non-domiciled residents, Bloomberg previously reported.

The city is already home to 75 centi-millionaires, according to the consultancy Henley & Partners, which projected Abu Dhabi will see that population of individuals more than double over the next 10 years.