HSBC opens new branch in Abu Dhabi Global Market

International lender HSBC has opened a branch in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), after being granted a licence by its Financial Services Regulatory Authority, it announced on Wednesday.

HSBC’s ADGM branch will support the bank’s presence throughout the UAE and will enable it to provide advisory services to institutional clients from the international financial centre, a statement said.

“The UAE is one of HSBC group’s eight scale markets, alongside Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, where we are investing to fulfil our growth ambitions,” said Abdulfattah Sharaf, group GM and CEO of UAE and head of International at HSBC Bank Middle East.

“Being present in ADGM’s vibrant financial services ecosystem will enhance HSBC’s ability to serve clients in Abu Dhabi.”

The UAE currently serves as HSBC’s headquarters for its operations in nine countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region.

This includes some 350 offices and around 10,500 employees.

In the year ending December 31, 2018, HSBC made a reported profit before tax of $1.5bn in the MENAT region.

Late last year, a senior bank executive said he expected HSBC to more than double its profit within its commercial bank in the MENA region by 2023.

“You have probably two of the biggest infrastructure programmes ever undertaken: the Middle East transformation programmes and the Belt and Road Initiative. We are in many of the countries where this is being undertaken, so we are at the heart of it,” Daniel Howlett, HSBC regional head of commercial banking in Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENA), told Reuters.

Read: HSBC sees doubling of commercial bank’s MENA profit by 2023