Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has joined forces with ARP Group to establish an artificial intelligence-native and blockchain-enabled wholesale bank headquartered in Bahrain. The initiative has secured in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain, though regulated activities will only commence after final authorization is granted.
ARP Group operates as the holding company for ARP Global Capital and ARP Digital. The latter was co-founded by Yusuf Alireza alongside Abdulla and Abdulaziz Kanoo. The new venture merges Mumtalakat’s long-term investment strategy with ARP’s expertise in institutional finance and digital financial infrastructure.
Designed primarily for regulated financial institutions, payment companies, and corporate entities with cross-border operations, the proposed bank aims to streamline multi-market and multi-currency banking needs. By integrating artificial intelligence throughout its operational framework and utilizing blockchain technology, the institution plans to offer programmable services that connect directly with client systems via application programming interfaces. These automated functions will be maintained alongside human oversight, comprehensive governance, and risk management controls, with products rolled out in phases following client engagement.
His Excellency Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chief executive officer of Mumtalakat, emphasized the strategic importance of the financial sector to the national economy. He noted that the partnership leverages experienced institutional leadership alongside Bahrain’s established regulatory framework to reinforce the Kingdom’s status as a regional financial hub.
Yusuf Alireza, chairman of ARP Group, pointed out that institutional clients managing complex international operations continue to navigate fragmented banking services. He stated that the venture will pair a regulated balance sheet with modern technological infrastructure to service these clients more efficiently across the Gulf and international markets.
