Sheikh Maktoum and Standard Chartered's Bill Winters discuss banking outlook in Dubai

UAE partnership and international expansion

The meeting took place at the office of Sheikh Maktoum, who is First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and President of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The two discussed Standard Chartered's regional and global outlook alongside developments affecting the wider financial industry.

Sheikh Maktoum said the UAE remained committed to its partnership with international financial institutions. He pointed to the country's flexible, advanced regulatory framework and its digital and physical infrastructure as support for institutions seeking to expand internationally from the UAE.

He also expressed appreciation for Standard Chartered's ties to the UAE banking sector, which date to 1958. Winters said he took pride in that relationship and wanted to deepen it through further cooperation supporting shared strategic objectives.

Winters described Dubai as a prominent regional and international financial center and cited the bank's early decision to locate its regional headquarters there. In a May 2026 DIFC news release, Rola Abu Manneh, Standard Chartered's CEO for the UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, said the bank had operated in the UAE for more than 65 years and had made DIFC its regional home in 2004.

Dubai's financial-center targets and DIFC growth

The talks addressed the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, including its target of placing Dubai among the world's top four financial centers by 2033. According to DIFC, Dubai reached seventh place in the Global Financial Centres Index in March 2026, its best ranking to date and the highest in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.

Participants also reviewed the expansion of Dubai's financial sector and DIFC's role in it, with an emphasis on innovation. By July 2026, the number of companies specializing in artificial intelligence, financial technology and innovation had risen to 1,933, a 39% annual increase.

Broader DIFC figures show that active registered companies passed 10,000 for the first time in the first half of 2026. In its July 28 announcement, DIFC reported 10,018 at the end of the half, up 30% from a year earlier, after attracting 2,318 new active registered companies during those six months.

At the same reporting date, DIFC had 1,134 regulated financial services firms, a 16% year-over-year increase. The total included 327 banks and capital markets firms, along with 592 wealth and asset management firms.

During the first half of 2026, DIFC also announced its ambition to become the world's first AI-Native financial center. DIFC expects the transformation to generate $3.5 billion (AED 12.9 billion) in economic value and create 25,000 jobs.

Standard Chartered's digital asset services

Standard Chartered's recent activity in DIFC includes two institutional digital asset launches. On July 2, 2026, the bank and Circle Internet Group introduced a service allowing eligible institutional clients to mint and redeem USDC through Standard Chartered without opening direct accounts with Circle.

According to a Standard Chartered press release, the launch made it the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) licensed to provide integrated USDC minting and redemption. The service initially operated through DIFC as the first stage of a planned broader global stablecoin offering.

On September 3, 2026, Standard Chartered announced institutional spot trading in Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and Ether (ETH/USD) in the UAE through its DFSA-regulated Standard Chartered DIFC entity. It said it was the first G-SIB to launch that capability in the UAE and, at the time, the only global bank offering institutional digital asset spot trading in the region.

The trading launch added execution services to the bank's existing UAE digital asset custody offering.

Bank operations and meeting participants

The discussion of Standard Chartered's outlook drew on its nearly 170 years of global operations. The bank serves investment, trade and wealth management clients across borders through a network spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

Standard Chartered Group operates in 55 markets and reported $20.94 billion in operating income for the year ended December 31, 2025. Standard Chartered PLC trades on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

Other officials at the meeting included Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs; Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism; Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC; and Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers.