(Abu Dhabi / London) – The Headquarters of the Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was officially opened by His Royal Highness The Duke of York, KG on October 16, 2018. Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank will facilitate trade between the Middle East, United Kingdom and Asia. 

Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank was established as the world’s first digitally-enabled trade bank to help address a global trade finance gap estimated at US$1.5 trillion.* The company is based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international finance centre in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and has plans to open additional offices in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, India and Asia, subject to regulatory approvals.

“Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank will have a real impact on the way that international trade is carried out, and that is why the inauguration of our Abu Dhabi headquarters, in the heart of the emerging world’s trade corridors by the Duke of York is such an important moment,” said Jeremy Parrish, Chairman of the Board of Directors Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank.

“There is a huge opportunity for a pioneering trade finance provider that delivers simple and intuitive digital trade-related products and value-add services in real time in close collaboration with ambitious companies looking to take advantage of digital tools available to optimise international processes and streamline working capital solutions,” he added. “This is because the current trade finance industry is ripe for fundamental change , with incumbent banks offering complex, largely paper-driven products to a limited number of corporates. However, significant opportunities exist today to rethink operational processes, technologies and trade banking services themselves.”    

Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank is a joint venture between AGTB Holdings Limited, a Rowland family controlled company, and Mubadala Investment company. AGTB will employ a number of technological advances including big data analytics, distributed ledger and cloud computing to offer a client-centric trade banking service to a broad range of corporate clients to dramatically reduce costs, risks and improve efficiencies in financing trade.

The bank plans to launch in early 2019, subject to final regulatory approval. 

*Asian Development Bank’s 2017 Trade Finance Gaps, Growth, and Jobs Survey

 (https://www.adb.org/publications/2017-trade-finance-gaps-jobs-survey)