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Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, and ARP Group are setting up a wholesale bank in Bahrain that they describe as AI-native and blockchain-enabled. The Central Bank of Bahrain has given the venture in-principle approval. It will start regulated activities only after final authorisation.
Key takeaways
Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, and ARP Group plan to set up an AI-native, blockchain-enabled wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has given in-principle approval.
The bank can start regulated activities only after final authorisation. The announcement gives no name, capital, ownership split or launch date.
It would serve regulated financial institutions, payment companies and businesses with cross-border operations, with products introduced in phases.
What the bank would do
The bank would serve regulated financial institutions, payment companies and businesses that operate across borders. It plans to use AI across its operations and to offer programmable services that connect to clients’ systems through APIs, with human oversight, governance and risk controls. Products will launch in phases, shaped by feedback from prospective clients, according to the release.
Yusuf Alireza, chairman of ARP Group, said,
“Institutional clients with complex cross-border needs still face fragmented banking services. He described the aim as combining a regulated bank’s balance sheet and institutional relationships with AI and blockchain technology.”
Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chief executive of Mumtalakat, said:
“Financial services have long been a cornerstone of Bahrain’s economy.”
The partners
ARP Group is the holding company of ARP Global Capital and ARP Digital. ARP Digital was co-founded by Alireza with Abdulla and Abdulaziz Kanoo.
ARP Digital’s Dubai arm, ARP Digital FZCO, holds a VARA VASP licence for broker-dealer services, issued on 7 August 2026 and restricted to institutional and qualified investors, according to the VARA public register. We covered it in our Flowdesk and ARP Digital licence report. The Bahrain announcement doesn’t mention the UAE or say whether the bank will serve clients here.
What hasn’t been announced
The release doesn’t give the bank’s name, its capital, the size of each owner’s stake or a launch date. It doesn’t name the licence category the CBB has approved in principle. It doesn’t say which blockchain services the bank will offer or how its AI would be governed beyond “human oversight, governance and risk controls”.
FAQs
What is the planned Mumtalakat and ARP Group bank?
A wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain, described as AI-native and blockchain-enabled, for regulated financial institutions, payment companies and cross-border businesses.
Has the Central Bank of Bahrain licensed it?
Not yet. The CBB has given in-principle approval. The bank can start regulated activities only after final authorisation.
Who are Mumtalakat and ARP Group?
Mumtalakat is the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain. ARP Group is the holding company of ARP Global Capital and ARP Digital.
What does “AI-native” mean for a bank?
The release defines it by two features: AI used across operations, and programmable services that connect to clients’ systems through APIs, with human oversight and risk controls.
Will the bank operate in the UAE?
The announcement doesn’t say. ARP Digital holds a separate VARA broker-dealer licence in Dubai.
Editor’s Take: The release names the technology and the target clients but not the capital, each owner’s stake, the licence category or a launch date. Those details will show how large a balance sheet the bank can lend against, which is the part of Alireza’s pitch the release leaves open. For UAE readers, the near-term link is ARP Digital’s Dubai licence. The Bahrain announcement doesn’t say whether the bank and ARP Digital will be connected.