Hub / regional bank
Mashreq
First UAE bank inside GIFT City — a trade-and-treasury bridge planted on the India–Middle East corridor.
Dedicated NRI team
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Strategy tenure
GIFT City since July 2025 (first UAE-bank IBU approval)
India onshore arc
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Hubs
Dubai, GIFT City
Mashreq is the first UAE-based bank to plant a flag inside India's GIFT City IFSC. It secured in-principle approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) for an International Financial Services Centre Banking Unit (IBU) in July 2025 and announced operational readiness on 10 October 2025, offering a suite of foreign-currency loans, trade finance and treasury solutions aimed at deepening the India–Middle East financial corridor. It is also a named partner in DIFC's family-wealth programme (November 2025). Mashreq's move is corridor infrastructure rather than a dedicated NRI wealth desk — the first-mover licence matters more than the product set so far.
Why it matters
Mashreq's GIFT City IBU is a marker of the UAE's institutional advance onto the India corridor: alongside Emirates NBD's RBL acquisition, it shows Gulf banks moving from serving NRI flows to owning corridor infrastructure inside India's own offshore hub. For now the offering is trade, treasury and foreign-currency lending rather than NRI wealth — but the first-mover licence and the DIFC family-wealth tie give Mashreq optionality as GIFT City's wealth stack matures.
The journey
Named partner in DIFC's family-wealth programme
At the DIFC Family Wealth Centre summit, Mashreq Bank — alongside Standard Chartered and Emirates NBD — was named as a bank set to deepen cooperation with the Centre on education, governance and tailored financial solutions for family enterprises.
Declares GIFT City IBU operationally ready — foreign-currency loans, trade finance, treasury
Mashreq announced the operational readiness of its GIFT City IBU, which will offer a comprehensive suite of foreign-currency loans, trade finance and treasury solutions, framed as advancing the India–Middle East financial corridor. Group CEO Ahmed Abdelaal called it 'a pivotal step in advancing the India–Middle East corridor'; Tushar Vikram, CEO Mashreq India, said the readiness 'deepens our engagement with India's growing financial ecosystem'.
First UAE bank to win in-principle IFSCA approval for a GIFT City IBU
Mashreq became the first UAE-based bank to secure in-principle approval from the Indian regulator (IFSCA) to establish an International Financial Services Centre Banking Unit at GIFT City, Gujarat.
Connections
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