Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum receives Abu Dhabi Global Market licence

The Zurich-based bank will use its ADGM hub to offer regulated crypto banking services to its clients in the Middle East

Giulia Finkbeiner-Bertoni, senior executive officer at Sygnum Bank Middle East. Photo: Sygnum

Sygnum Bank, a Zurich-based digital asset bank, is setting up its Middle East hub in the Abu Dhabi Global Market that will allow it to provide a portfolio of Swiss-regulated crypto banking services to its clients in the region.

Sygnum Bank Middle East has received Financial Services Permission from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), following its in-principle approval in October 2022, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

Giulia Finkbeiner-Bertoni will be senior executive officer of Sygnum and will lead the bank's operations across the region from ADGM, one of the fastest growing international financial centres in the Middle East and North Africa.

Sygnum Bank Middle East will offer “personal, concierge-style client service” that will allow its regional client access to a portfolio of Swiss-regulated digital asset banking, asset management, tokenisation and business-to-business banking services.

The ADGM is at the heart of Abu Dhabi's efforts to diversify its economy and connect the emirate with markets in the Mena region and economies in southern and eastern Asia.

The financial free zone is home to more than 5,400 companies, including global businesses, financial institutions, treasury centres, professional services companies, FinTechs, digital asset trading and advisory entities.

The number of digital asset companies in the emirate's financial centre is growing rapidly and the FSRA has licensed two custodians, five exchanges, clearing and settlement companies, an adviser and an asset and wealth manager, Emmanuel Givanakis, chief executive of the FSRA, told The National in November.

It has also given in-principle approvals to three brokers, an asset and wealth manager and a company involved in custody operations.

Eighteen more companies have applied for licences to start operations at the financial centre, according to FSRA data.

“The UAE has a proactive investment programme, a progressive crypto regulatory framework and a dynamic, tech-driven economy,” Ms Finkbeiner-Bertoni said.

“We look forward to leveraging this momentum by bringing Sygnum’s trusted digital asset services to Abu Dhabi and the region.”

With regional demand for regulated crypto services on the rise, Sygnum said it was looking to tap into a diverse range of clients, from “existing local crypto foundations and projects to traditional institutional investors” as well as qualified high-net-worth individual investors in the broader region.