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UAE banks are becoming the new tax haven

With the growing pressure on European banks, especially Swiss banks, to adopt more transparent policies and to ask their clients to declare their assets; the region, particularly Dubai, is becoming more attractive to clients looking to provide an alternative to a weakening banking secrecy policy at home.

“UAE banks are becoming the new tax haven for shifting Swiss clients. Europe-based account holders are moving their assets into the region where regulation and tax laws are less regulated and monitored,” said Fernand Rasetti, COO of SAGE Group SA, present at this year’s MEFTEC on the 24th and 25th of April. SAGE Group SA is a Swiss company, founded in 1986, that has established itself amongst the pioneers in financial software with offices in Dubai and Singapore.

SAGE Group SA’s expertise and commitment to the continuing development of cutting-edge banking and asset management applications has ensured that it remains ahead by spotting trends in the banking sector. Recent examples of a growing trend include ADCB buying RBS’s assets in the UAE and HSBC UAE’s move to acquire Lloyds’ UAE assets. In these scenarios, the acquiring entity should be equipped with a flexible software solution that allows it to create the products and services of the acquired entity that it presently does not offer. “Prospero is one of the few solutions that do not require coding to adapt the business processes of a newly absorbed entity and thus allow users to easily and quickly adjust to and create new products and services.

The new strength of the financial sector in the UAE can also be explained by the fact that European banks in general and swiss banks in particular are opening subsidiary banks in Dubai that offer management services. This means that the European client can choose its local custody bank and the European and / swiss bank can, in a relatively simple way, keep these clients while avoiding the problem that arises with Swiss banking secrecy.  Technically, such a solution is much simpler than creating a new bank. “As a result of this trend in the regional marketplace, European financial institutions need systems that provide them with a consolidated view of their clients’ assets.  With an information platform such as Prospero, it is also possible for the subsidiaries to be operational very quickly as Prospero provides electronic interfaces with custodian banks that allow the consolidation of portfolios,” Fernand added.

Prospero is a suite of solutions precisely fitted to the needs of specific segments of the financial services industry and covers all aspects of financial operations: Wealth Management, Asset Management, Fund Administration, Trading, Family Office, and Portfolio Optimization. Even with today’s standardized and regulated financial environment; each bank, each financial institution remains different; Prospero’s unique flexibility ensures that it covers exact needs – from medium to large firms, from simple to complex financial products and activities.

Prospero is currently used by prominent financial institutions in Switzerland, Europe, and Asia Pacific as they rely on Prospero to expand their market share in Wealth Management.

Following its success, SAGE Group SA launched v2.0 of its Prospero suite of solutions during MEFTEC that was held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre on the 25th and 26th of April.

Prospero v2.0 provides clients with more productivity, more scalability, higher ease of use, and less total cost of ownership.