US financial services platform Robinhood is expanding to the Middle East, with the Dubai International Financial Centre becoming its regional headquarters.
The company said on Thursday it had been approved by the Dubai Financial Services Authority to offer trading and custody services across all 10 asset classes approved by the regulator, including equities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds and investment tokens.
“The DIFC is one of the world’s most important financial hubs, and our expansion there brings us closer to building a global platform that enables anyone, anywhere to own the highest quality financial assets,” said Vlad Tenev, chairman and chief executive of Robinhood.
Robinhood plans to start offering its products in the region in 2027, giving investors access to a wider range of global financial assets.
The company said its Dubai operations will be led by Salah Kaddoura as senior executive officer and president of Robinhood Mena. He will oversee the expansion of the regional team.
“From our new home in Dubai’s premier financial hub, we’re looking forward to building Robinhood’s regional presence and expanding access to the global financial ecosystem for a new generation of investors,” Mr Kaddoura said.
The move comes as Dubai strengthens its position as a financial centre, attracting international companies seeking access to the region’s growing investor base.
The number of companies at DIFC grew at a record pace in the first half of this year, despite uncertainty over the Iran war, as the emirate’s financial hub continued to attract banks, wealth and asset managers, and hedge funds from around the globe.
DIFC, one of the fastest-growing onshore financial hubs of the broader Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, registered 2,318 new companies in the 12 months until the end of June, marking a 30 per cent annual increase, the regulator said in July.
Global companies that set up their regional offices at DIFC during the first six months of the year include Allianz Trade Middle East, Arrowpoint Investment Partners, Bank of Canada, Blue Mountain Capital, Citadel, Gordian Capital, ICICI Prudential Asset Management, JP Morgan International Advisors, and Varenne Capital Partners.
Arif Amiri, chief executive of the DIFC Authority, said Robinhood’s decision to establish its regional headquarters in Dubai reflected growing demand for technology-driven investment services across the Middle East.
“With its proven ability to broaden participation in financial markets, Robinhood is well positioned to contribute to the continued development of the region's investment landscape and to connect a new generation of investors with opportunities across global markets,” he said.
DIFC is among the key planks of Dubai's growth ambitions and is aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda, the initiative known as D33, which aims to double the size of the emirate's economy to Dh32 trillion ($8.71 trillion) over the next decade and establish Dubai among the top three global cities.
Dubai is also pursuing a Dh100 billion expansion plan for the second phase of the the financial centre, called DIFC Za'abeel District, which on completion will boost overall capacity to 42,000 companies housing 125,000 professionals across more than 1.5 square kilometres of floor space.
Demand for office space continued during the first six months of this year with DIFC Square, which has 600,000 square feet of space, becoming 100 per cent pre-leased before completion.