Citigroup has been granted a license to set up a branch of Citibank at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGAM), a financial center in Abu Dhabi, the said on Tuesday.

The new branch will provide liquidity management to Citibank’s clients looking to establish regional treasury centers in the United Arab Emirates as well as offering institutional banking services to its global clients, it said.

Citibank is expanding in the United Arab Emirates where it has provided wholesale and retail banking since 1964 and in neighbouring Saudi Arabia where it plans to apply for a full banking license.

Citibank aims to boost the UAE’s role as an offshore booking centre to cater for demand from multinational corporate clients wanting to use the country as a centre for their business in the Middle East and Africa, Atiq Rehman, Citi’s Chief Executive of Middle East and Africa told Reuters earlier this month.

The granting of the license in Abu Dhabi was made during a visit to ADGM by Citigroup Chief Executive, Mike Corbat.

ADGM, which opened in October 2015, and the older and larger Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) are the UAEs’ two international hubs for banking and fund management.

In comments aimed at encouraging more banks to establish themselves in ADGM, state oil giant, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s Chief Executive, Sultan al-Jaber, said in February that it was likely to engage more with financial institutions that had a presence in the financial center. (Reuters/NAN)