Swiss private bank Maerki Baumann gains approval for UAE crypto business unit

The Swiss private bank Maerki Baumann & Co. Ltd. is now regulated in the UAE by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM. Its Middle East Hub branch in Abu Dhabi aims to support blockchain and crypto companies by offering access to essential financial infrastructure and by acting as a reliable banking partner. The bank entered the digital asset space back in 2019.

As per the press release, Maerki Baumann seeks to be the financial partner for tech and blockchain ventures as well as crypto companies and entrepreneurs. The Middle East branch will operate under the ARCHIP Brand, uniting the bank’s broad range of banking services for clients from the crypto community.

Maerki Baumann gets UAE green light

Maerki Baumann, under the brand ARCHIP, will offer liquidity management, services in trading, custody, staking, and the management of digital assets for private, institutional, and corporate clients. The services will be provided by the Tech Banking department in Zurich, which has extensive experience in supporting hundreds of tech companies and individuals from the crypto community.

The Middle East presence will be headed by Andreas Froehlicher, a lawyer who previously served as General Counsel and Head Legal & Compliance at Maerki Baumann. Froehlicher noted that their presence in Abu Dhabi allows the bank to connect directly with local tech, blockchain and crypto companies and that the bank will offer a combination of blockchain knowledge with Swiss service quality.

Stephan A. Zwahlen, CEO of Maerki Baumann, noted that the license was a milestone, and part of their international expansion and their commitment to offering first-class banking services to technology-focused companies.

ADGM’s Chief Market Development Officer, Arvind Rammaurthy, also weighed in, noting that this is in line with ADGM’s positioning as a comprehensive regime for digital assets and tokenized financial instruments that include an expanding wealth management and private banking ecosystem.