We talked to the head of a new operation of Arab Bank Switzerland – ABS (Middle East) Limited – about the rationale for its launch, the business case and what clients want.

A shift in the way Middle East-based high net worth and ultra-HNW individuals view wealth and the advisory services they need has played a part in why Arab Bank Switzerland recently launched ABS (Middle East) Limited. The new operation is based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). 

“10 years ago, most clients in the region were looking to preserve their wealth and they were looking at cash and real estate. Over the last 10 years, a big shift happened – people asked `How can I grow my wealth and how can I transfer it?’ That is why our expertise as a client is very interesting for clients,” Samir Atitallah (main picture), CEO of ABS (Middle East) Ltd, told this publication in a recent interview.

“The trend in the Middle East is very impressive – the growth of the whole financial ecosystem. Demands of Middle East clients are becoming more sophisticated,” he said.

A rising tide is lifting a lot of boats: The EY GCC Wealth Management Industry Report 2025 said that more than 200,000 individuals in the GCC meet the criteria for HNW status, with investable assets ranging from $2 million at the bottom of this band up to hundreds of millions of dollars in the UHNW segment. GCC wealth management is enjoying faster growth in assets under management than any other region in the world, with a compound annual growth rate of 8 per cent expected to continue until 2028.

Atitallah noted a recent study showing that in the Middle East, wealthy individuals typically hold about 15 per cent of total assets in property, which is ahead of the global average of around 10 per cent, but the gap is not particularly large or as wide as a decade or more ago. There is more interest in areas such as private equity and credit, as well as digital assets, he said. 

WealthBriefing had to ask Atitallah whether his business has been affected by the upsurge in geopolitical instability in the Gulf this year and what the outlook was for the medium term.

“Middle Eastern clients are looking to diversify in terms of jurisdictions and assets,” he said. “I don’t see any impact from clients from how investors are investing in the region. It has, though, accelerated some planned decisions.”

The Middle East-Switzerland corridor is a significant one, and it dates back decades. With a name such as Arab Bank Switzerland, it is clear that this is a firm focused on the synergies between the Gulf and the Alpine state. Arab Bank Switzerland was established in 1962, bulking up acquisitions such as that of Swiss bank Gonet in 2022. Today, ABS Group has almost $25 billion in AuM.

Atitallah, who said he has 15 years’ experience in private banking, previously worked for almost four years at Mirabaud in Dubai. Before that, he was chief of staff to the CEO at Piaget, the luxury watch brand, based in Geneva. Prior to Piaget, he was a project leader on organisation and strategy for Pictet Group, in Geneva. With a background in computer science, he also worked as a senior consultant, EMEIA financial services advisory, at EY.

Drawing on his banking and luxury sector career, Atitallah said his experience of working in sectors with a high premium on service quality, precision and clients' needs has equipped him for this new role. 

The Middle East-Switzerland dynamic harnesses the wealth creation of the ME and the banking “savoir faire” of Switzerland, he added.