Swiss Private Bank Julius Baer Targets Dubai for Expansion of Crypto Wealth Services
Swiss private banking giant Julius Baer Group, that began offering Bitcoin and other crypto services to wealthy clients in May last year, is now expanding its crypto presence in Dubai.
Jonathan Hayes, the bank’s head of crypto development, told Bloomberg that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a “key geography” for digital assets due to its increased economic development.
The expansion marks the bank’s first crypto push outside Swiss borders.
Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd. or JBME, the bank’s subsidiary licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, is expected to apply for a crypto license variation. The new license would permit the bank to offer custodial services on digital assets.
The Zurich-based bank recently began offering Lombard lending - borrowing user assets as collateral - to select crypto clients, Hayes noted.
“[It] allows customers to borrow against digital assets custodied with the bank.”
The third-largest private Swiss bank in terms of earnings and assets, Julius Baer originally partnered with cryptocurrency bank SEBA in 2019 to provide cutting-edge solutions in digital assets.
The bank is “convinced” that crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) will become “legitimate sustainable asset class of an investor’s portfolio,” the bank’s spokesperson noted at that time.
The bank currently offers standard advice on crypto assets to clients across 25 nations, including Singapore. The bank’s wealth management services offer “the top 15 or so tokens in the market, all of which are subject to a thorough due diligence process and a review panel,” Hayes added.
Dubai has positioned itself as a global crypto hub in the Middle East. It is the second-largest such center in the world, according to a report by
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