Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has partnered with ARP Group to establish an AI-native wholesale bank.

Based in Bahrain, the proposed bank will also use blockchain technology.

The venture has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain. Regulated activities will start only after final authorisation.

ARP Group is the holding company of ARP Global Capital and ARP Digital. Yusuf Alireza co-founded ARP Digital with Abdulla and Abdulaziz Kanoo.

Mumtalakat and ARP Group announced the venture on the sidelines of Gateway Gulf 2026.

The bank plans to serve regulated financial institutions, payment companies and firms with cross-border operations.

According to the partners, the venture aims to simplify banking for clients whose needs span several markets and currencies.

It intends to use technology to lower the cost and complexity of serving them.

Artificial intelligence is being built into the bank’s operations. Programmable services would connect directly with clients’ systems through APIs.

Human oversight, governance and risk controls would support these services. Products and services would launch in phases, based on input from potential clients.

“Institutional clients with complex cross-border needs still face fragmented banking services,”

said Yusuf Alireza, Chairman at ARP Group.

“Financial services have long been a cornerstone of Bahrain’s economy, and as the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom, our role is to invest in opportunities that strengthen the sector’s competitiveness and support its continued evolution,”

said His Excellency Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer at Mumtalakat.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News UAE, based on image by Mumtalakat via its website.