Bank al Etihad, one of Jordan's largest banks, has announced its entry into the UAE through a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Ethmar International Holding and other UAE investors. The parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new bank in Abu Dhabi Global Market. The new bank will operate under a Category 1 banking license within ADGM, providing a platform for serving regional and international clients. It will facilitate cross-border business and support transactions across target markets. Bank al Etihad has served customers since 1987 and has grown to nearly JOD 11 billion in total assets through regional expansion, including acquisitions in Iraq and Egypt. The initiative forms part of the bank's broader growth strategy to strengthen its regional presence beyond Jordan and Iraq.

R/GA expands into the MENA region, establishing Abu Dhabi presence to serve AI infra boom. Over the past decade, R/GA has served clients in the region, designing and building new brand systems, launching category-first digital products, and reimagining customer experiences for a mobile-first, AI-driven market. Bertrand Morin, Executive Director, MENA, R/GA R/GA, a leading creative innovation company for the intelligence age, has expanded into the MENA region, formally establishing its business in Abu Dhabi. While this dedicated presence is new, the move intends to represent the formal culmination of a decade-long commitment and growing momentum in the region from R/GA, positioning the agency at the heart of the sovereign ambition and AI infrastructure investments that will shape the region's future. The formal entity was set up as a result of growing demand from R/GA's growing regional client portfolio. During R/GA's time in the region, the agency has partnered with leading organisations, including G42, Wio Bank, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Emirates NBD, and Bank Al Etihad. The work has included designing and building new brand systems, launching category-first digital products, and reimagining customer experiences for a mobile-first, AI-driven market. The business continues to grow, driven by expanded programmes with existing clients and new engagements across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Leading the business is Bertrand Morin, who has been appointed as Executive Director, MENA, R/GA. Morin said, "Campaign Middle East is thrilled to formally establish its presence in the MENA market, following over ten years of servicing clients and building intelligent brand systems that deliver differentiation, customer value and growth. He added, "We're excited to welcome an expanded team on the ground, and turn our award-winning work into a permanent commitment. We're the region's 'newest oldest' player, with the trust and the track record to prove it. This region always moves forward, it adapts fast, has huge resilience, and bets on innovation, and that's exactly how we work too." The Abu Dhabi-based hub will serve clients across the wider region, with plans to hire more staff and further expansions planned for 2027 onwards. The establishment of its business in the UAE aims to enable R/GA to further strengthen its offering to locally-based clients, harnessing the latest innovations in technology to create more valuable experiences to connect people and brands. This includes training custom brand AI models, building new, adaptive commerce experiences and creating personalised, generative interfaces. R/GA's recent work for G42 earlier this year, included launching a world-first generative interface redefining the future of the web, serving as a clear proof point of its ability to deliver MENA-led innovation with global impact. Faheem Ahamed, Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, G42, said, "At G42, we value partners willing to question the familiar, not simply improve it. With Alpha.G42.ai, R/GA helped us explore a more fundamental idea: in an agentic world, the interface between an organisation and its audiences no longer needs to be fixed; it can be generated, intelligent and responsive to intent. That thinking came out of Abu Dhabi and travelled globally. R/GA choosing to put down roots here is another signal of something important: the UAE is increasingly becoming a place where the next generation of ideas is not simply adopted, but imagined and built." R/GA's Abu Dhabi presence brings those AI-driven creative capabilities directly to one of the world's fastest-growing innovation hubs. Globally, R/GA works across government and sovereign investment, financial services, AI and technology, health, and sport and entertainment. The Abu Dhabi presence puts R/GA's global sector expertise locally in service of MENA clients, and gives the region's brands a direct route to a global stage. Robin Forbes, Global CEO of R/GA, said, "Independence has been transformative for R/GA and it has given us the freedom to invest in new talent, build new capabilities, develop our own AI tools and products, and chart our own course," said "And we chose to invest in setting up in Abu Dhabi because of the sovereign ambition and the AI infrastructure being built here. It's an exciting market to be in and we're looking forward to harnessing the potential of key technologies to help the region's leading brands deepen their relationships with customers, and give them a reason to be loyal. We've always been driven by the mission 'to design the future, not the familiar', and that's exactly what we hope to achieve in this market." Following its return to private independence in partnership with Truelink Capital, and backed by a $50 million Innovation Fund, R/GA has been executing a long-term growth plan. A key milestone was the acquisition of Addition, an AI system design and development studio, deepening its technical depth in applied intelligence. The company's MENA operation is officially active, with plans to move into a dedicated new formal office space later this year. Senior leadership appointments are also underway in creative and delivery to support its rapidly growing team. Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand's digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he's a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world's leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.

Bank Al Etihad enters UAE market through strategic partnership with Ethmar International Holding Monday, 21-09-2026 01:20 PM Al-Wakeel News - Amman, Jordan / Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Bank Al Etihad, one of the largest banks in Jordan, announced its entry into the United Arab Emirates market through a strategic partnership with Ethmar International Holding (EIH), an Abu Dhabi-based institutional investment group, along with a number of investors in the UAE. Advertisement The parties signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a new bank in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a step that represents an important milestone in Bank Al Etihad's regional growth journey, expands its presence outside Jordan and Iraq, and enables it to be present in one of the most prominent global financial centers. A new platform for growth and expansion across markets The new bank will operate under a Category 1 banking license in Abu Dhabi Global Market, to be an integrated platform serving companies and clients in the region and global markets, and supporting their businesses and transactions outside the UAE. Through the new bank, Bank Al Etihad will be able to support business and transactions between different markets, facilitate operations across its target markets, in addition to building new relationships with companies, institutions, and high-net-worth clients. This step comes within Bank Al Etihad's growth and expansion strategy, based on more than five decades of experience in the banking sector, aiming to enhance its presence across the region, diversify its products and sources of income, and expand its relationships with key regional and global markets. The proposed bank will operate within the internationally recognized regulatory framework in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), under the supervision of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), while complying with the requirements and regulatory controls in force in both the United Arab Emirates and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and after obtaining all necessary approvals from the competent official authorities.