ANZ Bank Establishes Dubai Base
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Following approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority for a Category 4 branch license, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited has commenced operations from a new office in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

ANZ is also in the process of moving its current Dubai representative office to Abu Dhabi in order to better serve state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth Funds located there.

The Category 4 branch licence allows ANZ to advise and arrange credit and investments for corporates, financial institutions and public sector clients in the Middle East. ANZ is also able to arrange offshore banking services from its booking centres in Singapore and Hong Kong for private banking clients.

Mark Robinson, CEO of ANZ South & Southeast Asia, said: “The opening of the ANZ office in DIFC is an important milestone as a super regional bank.”

“Trade and investment flows between the Middle East and Australia, New Zealand and Asia are strong and growing. Expanding our footprint in the Middle East reflects our commitment to helping our customers harness this potential and connecting them with our global expertise across 32 markets,” Robinson said.

Kevin Birkett, Head of Financial Services at the DIFC Authority said: “With its AA rating, ANZ is among the strongest and best capitalised banks in the world. We welcome ANZ to the DIFC and look forward to supporting their business to develop and grow within the region.”

ANZ has been present in the United Arab Emirates since 2008. Founded in 1835, ANZ provides a range of retail, private, commercial and institutional banking and financial services to eight million customers across 32 markets worldwide. ANZ holds an AA rating from Standard & Poor's and is among the world's 25 largest banks by market capitalisation.