Barclays Strengthens UAE Private Banking with Senior Hires in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

{getToc} $title={Table of Contents}

Barclays ramps up Middle East private banking presence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Barclays Private Bank appoints Pritash Mathur as Head of International Coverage, UAE, to lead client acquisition in cross-border wealth segments.
The bank has made two senior hires to deepen coverage of ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth clients across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The expansion focuses on non-resident Indian clients and internationally active family offices requiring multi-jurisdictional solutions.
Barclays is one of a small group of banks recognised globally for dedicated NRI private banking services across multiple booking centres.
The UAE private banking market faces intensified competition from both global players and well-entrenched regional banks.
Regulatory frameworks in the DIFC and ADGM require stringent compliance for cross-border wealth management and anti-money laundering standards.

Strategic Push into Cross-Border Wealth Management

Barclays Private Bank is expanding its footprint in the United Arab Emirates with two senior appointments designed to capture growing demand for sophisticated cross-border wealth management. The build-out targets ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth clients operating across the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), both of which serve as regional hubs for international finance. The move reflects intensifying competition among private banks to serve the Non-resident Indian (NRI) segment and globally mobile family offices in the Gulf.

With regulatory oversight from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the UAE's financial centres require private banks to meet stringent anti-money laundering, data protection and client suitability standards. Barclays' expansion comes as the region sees rapid wealth creation, rising client expectations for digital and advisory-led services, and an influx of entrepreneurs and HNW individuals drawn by the UAE's favourable tax environment and advanced infrastructure.

New Leadership to Coordinate International Coverage

Barclays has appointed Pritash Mathur as Head of International Coverage, UAE, a newly created or upgraded role designed to coordinate client coverage across international segments in the country. Mathur's remit includes driving client acquisition and wallet-share growth in segments that require cross-jurisdiction structuring, multi-booking-centre solutions and complex wealth planning. His focus is on NRIs, global Indians based in the UAE, and other internationally active entrepreneurs and family offices rather than purely domestic UAE banking.

Mathur brings extensive experience in the NRI and cross-border private banking space, having previously worked in senior wealth management roles focused on Indian and Gulf clients at other international banks. His role at Barclays in the UAE includes coordinating with teams in London, Singapore and other hubs to structure offerings that take into account tax, succession and regulatory constraints across multiple jurisdictions for globally mobile NRI clients and Gulf-based family offices with India linkages.

Second Senior Hire Reinforces Regional Strategy

The second senior hire, described as an experienced private banking professional joining the UAE platform, is positioned as complementary to Mathur's role. Together, the two hires form part of a broader Middle East strategy under Barclays Private Bank leadership to scale a targeted franchise rather than a mass-market wealth proposition. The bank is focusing on UHNW families, business owners and sophisticated NRIs who require advisory-led, multi-jurisdictional solutions.

Barclays' push in the UAE aligns with its global positioning as one of a small number of banks able to serve NRI clients across multiple onshore and offshore markets. Euromoney's private banking awards note that only a handful of institutions can credibly claim to provide globally relevant financial services to NRIs. Barclays is recognised among this select group, with a dedicated NRI strategy, teams and products spanning booking centres in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Growing NRI Segment Drives Market Opportunity

The NRI segment represents one of the most dynamic wealth segments globally, with over 30 million individuals spread across more than 200 countries and a rapidly growing wealth base. Industry commentary describes the NRI market as a high-growth opportunity for private banks able to navigate complex tax residency, regulatory and investment rules across India and host jurisdictions. Key themes within the NRI segment include digital engagement, a rising appetite for ESG and green investments, and strong interest in Indian real estate and capital markets.

In the Middle East context, NRIs form a large part of the expatriate and business community in the UAE, with millions of Indian nationals and persons of Indian origin living and working in the Gulf. Many of these clients fall into mass-affluent or emerging-wealth bands, but there is also a significant cohort of HNW and UHNW NRIs and Indian-origin family offices using Dubai and Abu Dhabi as operating bases for regional and global investments.

Competitive Landscape and Regional Dynamics

The UAE private banking landscape is increasingly competitive, with local and global players expanding to capture wealth. Local champions such as Emirates NBD and Mashreq have been investing heavily in their private banking and wealth units, emphasising bespoke solutions, digital platforms and tailored coverage for UHNW and HNW clients. Mashreq Private Banking highlights strong UAE economic growth, an influx of new HNWIs and family offices, and the country's positioning as a global financial hub as key drivers of competition in wealth management.

Global private banks and wealth managers such as UBS, Julius Baer and EFG have also been scaling NRI and Middle East offerings, often via hubs in Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Zurich. Commentary on Barclays' UAE strategy notes that the bank faces intense competition from both these global players and well-entrenched regional banks, which already dominate retail and corporate banking and have been expanding into higher-end wealth segments. To compete, Barclays is seen as leaning on its strengths in cross-border advisory, technology-enabled client experience and a focused NRI and family office value proposition.

Regulatory Framework for Cross-Border Private Banking

The regulatory environment for cross-border private banking into and within the UAE allows foreign banks to serve clients located in the country, subject to specific constraints and licensing frameworks. Within the DIFC and ADGM, financial firms must comply with the DFSA and FSRA rulebooks, respectively. In these wholesale jurisdictions, a foreign entity typically must operate through a DFSA-authorised or FSRA-authorised firm to deal with clients classified as market counterparties or professional clients.

UAE federal anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation places obligations on financial institutions to detect, prevent and report suspicious activity, including in relation to cross-border fund flows, remittances and complex wealth structures. The DFSA's Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing and Sanctions Module requires firms to adopt a risk-based approach, calibrating customer due diligence and monitoring to the customer's risk profile, the nature of their business and geographic exposure. For private banks handling NRI and Gulf wealth, this framework means enhanced scrutiny of complex multi-jurisdictional structures, family offices and cross-border booking arrangements.

Technology and Digital Transformation

Industry commentary stresses the importance of technology in differentiating private banking offerings in the UAE. Banks are investing in AI-driven portfolio analytics, digital onboarding, mobile-first platforms and hybrid advisory models combining relationship managers with digital tools to meet client expectations for both high-touch and high-tech propositions. Barclays' strategy includes leveraging its global digital wealth platforms and data-driven planning tools to provide a seamless experience across booking centres for clients who may live in the UAE, own businesses in the region and India, and hold assets in Europe or Asia.

At the same time, regulatory expectations around data, privacy and cross-border information sharing are evolving across financial centres such as the DIFC and ADGM. Recent commentary refers to a new era of data-transfer rules and supervisory coordination that affect how financial institutions can move client data between entities and jurisdictions, impacting everything from client reporting to consolidated risk management for global NRI families.

Market Outlook and Strategic Positioning

Private banking executives in the region expect intensified competition, continuing digital transformation and rising client expectations for personalised, omni-channel service in 2025 and beyond. Forecasts point to several themes including stronger focus on ESG and sustainable investments, growth in alternative assets and private markets, increasing importance of succession and governance planning for first-generation wealth creators, and heightened regulatory scrutiny on cross-border products and client suitability.

For banks such as Barclays, this means tailoring UAE and NRI offerings not just around traditional discretionary portfolios and vanilla lending, but also around ESG-labelled strategies, co-investment opportunities, structured products and family-office-style advisory. The NRI market specifically is expected to continue growing as India's economic weight increases and as second- and third-generation diaspora members seek more sophisticated global wealth solutions.