Bahrain’s Mumtalakat and ARP Group unveil AI-powered wholesale banking initiative – Unite.AI

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and ARP Group announced on November 1, 2026 a partnership to create an AI-native, blockchain-enabled wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain. The company has in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain and will only begin regulated activities after obtaining final approval.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of Gateway Gulf 2026. The proposed bank is intended to support institutional clients whose banking needs are regional and international in scope, and Mumtalakat said the venture pairs its long-term investment approach with ARP’s expertise in institutional finance and digital financial infrastructure.

Target customers and operational planning

The bank’s customer base includes regulated financial institutions, payment companies and businesses operating across borders. The partners said the goal is to make banking easier for customers whose needs span multiple markets and currencies, with technology reducing the complexity and cost of their service.

According to the announcement, the bank’s project places artificial intelligence throughout its operations, with programmable services that connect directly to customer systems via APIs. Human oversight, governance and risk controls would support such services, and products would be rolled out in phases shaped by engagement with potential customers.

The partners behind the business

Mumtalakat was established on 29 June 2006, pursuant to Royal Decree No. 64 of 2006, and is registered with the Bahrain Ministry of Industry and Trade as a Bahrain closed share company, according to the fund’s corporate governance page. Its board members are appointed by the chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Council.

ARP Group is the holding company of ARP Global Capital and ARP Digital. According to the announcement, ARP Digital was co-founded by Yusuf Alireza together with Abdulla and Abdulaziz Kanoo; ARP Digital describes the brothers on its website as fifth-generation twins from the GCC group Kanoo, founded 135 years ago.

ARP Digital is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a cryptocurrency services provider for the capital markets (Cat3), according to ARP Digital’s website, which displays the Financial Transaction and Reporting Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) next to that license. Its product line includes Convert, an institutional liquidity desk for over-the-counter digital assets that operates 24 hours a day with bilateral settlement in fiat or stablecoin; Sending, which covers remittances, corridor settlement and inflows and outflows; and Receive, a collections and payments product that converts digital assets into fiat for payment into a customer’s bank account. The company says each customer is assigned a named relationship manager with direct access to the phone and WhatsApp, as well as API and dashboard tools.

The company reports more than $3.5 billion in volume processed, a customer base of more than 450, four or more extended licenses, quadruple volume growth in 2025, 99.99% platform uptime, and support for more than 10 currencies. It describes Convert as the only CBB-licensed desk of its kind in the GCC.

Alireza is the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of ARP Global Capital. Before founding ARP, he was managing director of Asian commodities trading firm Noble Group from 2012 to 2016, following 20 years at Goldman Sachs in New York, London and Hong Kong, where he ultimately ran its Asia Pacific sales, trading and investment business before becoming co-president for the region and a member of its global management committee, according to ARP Global Capital’s leadership page. The firm says he became the first Arab partner in Goldman Sachs’ history in 2004 and the only Arab promoted to its Global Management Committee, which he joined in 2011.

He serves as non-executive chairman of ARP Digital and a board member of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, according to Alireza’s ARP Digital biography, which describes ARP Global Capital as a multi-asset hedge fund ranked in the top quartile globally and awarded a 2025 EuroHedge Awards in the Discretionary Macro category.

Executive Statements

Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, said that financial services have long been a cornerstone of Bahrain’s economy and that the role of the fund, as the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, is to invest in opportunities that strengthen the competitiveness of the sector and support its continued evolution. It said the partnership brings together an experienced institutional team with Bahrain’s well-established regulatory and business environment, and that the investment reflects a commitment to long-term value for Bahrain through support for strategic sectors, the creation of high-quality opportunities for Bahraini talent, and sustainable returns linked to the Kingdom’s economic growth.

Alireza said institutional clients with complex cross-border needs still face fragmented banking services. “We see the opportunity to combine the balance sheet and institutional relationships of a regulated bank with blockchain-enabled technology and artificial intelligence designed into its operating model from the start, making these customers more efficient in serving,” he said. He added that Bahrain’s established financial sector and regulatory experience provide a solid foundation for the venture and that, together with Mumtalakat, ARP aims to build a bank that supports clients across the Gulf and international markets.