#Bahrain #banking - Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund, has partnered with ARP Group to set up an AI-native, blockchain-enabled wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain. ARP Group is the holding company of ARP Global Capital, an alternatives asset manager, and ARP Digital. The Central Bank of Bahrain has given in-principle approval. The bank will serve regulated financial institutions, payment companies and businesses that operate across borders. It can’t begin regulated activities until it has final authorisation.
SO WHAT? - According to the announcement, this a bank being built around AI from the start, not a legacy bank aspiring to be AI-native. That is the claim, although the banking industry has yet to properly define what constitutes an AI-native bank. The new bank has an in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain, but until the new venture launches, it will be difficult to judge or compare it to other prospective AI-native banks preparing to launch.
KEY POINTS:
Mumtalakat and ARP Group (holding company of ARP Global Capital,) have partnered to establish an AI-native and blockchain-enabled wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain. The announcement came on the sidelines of Gateway Gulf 2026.
The Central Bank of Bahrain has granted in-principle approval. The venture will begin regulated activities only after it obtains final authorisation, and the release gives no timeline for that step.
The proposed bank will serve regulated financial institutions, payment companies and businesses with cross-border operations. It aims to simplify banking for clients whose needs span several markets and currencies.
Technology is meant to cut the complexity and cost of serving those clients. The bank is being designed to use artificial intelligence across its operations from the outset.
It will offer programmable services that connect directly to clients’ systems through application programming interfaces (APIs). Human oversight, governance and risk controls will support the AI and the services.
Products and services will arrive in phases, shaped by talks with prospective clients. The release names no products, launch date or investment amount.
The partnership pairs Mumtalakat’s long-term investment approach with ARP’s experience in institutional finance and digital financial infrastructure. ARP Digital was co-founded by Yusuf Alireza with Abdulla and Abdulaziz Kanoo.
Mumtalakat was founded in 2006 to manage 29 commercial assets for the Bahraini government. It now holds over 60 local and international companies across 12 sectors.
ARP Global Capital is an independent global alternatives asset manager founded in 2018. Its leadership team has worked across the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
ZOOM OUT - Bahrain’s plan is not the only AI-native bank in the Gulf. In January 2026, Abu Dhabi-based Islamic digital bank Mal closed a $230 million seed round, which was billed as the largest seed round in Middle East and Africa history. BlueFive Capital, an Abu Dhabi investment platform, led it. Mal is a mobile-first bank aimed at the world’s 2 billion Muslims and underbanked communities. It is preparing a 2026 launch, but it is thought to be still pursuing licences in several markets.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: DFSA
Read more about AI in Middle East banking:
AI use at DIFC firms hits 71%, doubling since 2024 (Middle East AI News)
Emirates NBD first bank on OpenAI’s UAE inference (Middle East AI News)
‘ruya Bank’ goes live with Agentic AI services (Middle East AI News)
DIFC gets first AI-native asset manager (Middle East AI News)
G42 and Santander sign AI partnership for collaboration (Middle East AI News)