UBS Joins Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange as Its Second International Remote Trading Member

Remote membership allows UBS to give its clients direct access to Abu Dhabi's capital market and to securities listed on ADX without the bank needing a full local brokerage presence. The exchange said the move should help global market participants make better execution decisions and make trading and settlement more efficient.

Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, Group Chief Executive Officer of ADX, said UBS was the second international remote trading member to join the exchange during 2026, and that interest from international institutions in the market's opportunities had continued to grow "despite global volatility and economic challenges." He said ADX, as a multi-asset exchange and market operator, would keep developing its infrastructure to attract more global capital and support capital raising.

Ahmed Badr, Managing Director and Head of Global Markets Execution Services for the Middle East and North Africa at UBS Investment Bank, said remote membership would widen the opportunities for the bank's clients to invest in Abu Dhabi and would complement the capital markets products UBS offers across its global network.

Building Out Foreign Access

The UBS membership follows ADX's announcement in May that Morgan Stanley had become its first international investment bank to join as a remote trading member. The exchange has also brought on Thndr, a retail investment platform operating in the Middle East and North Africa, as its first remote retail trading member. ADX has described the model as a way to onboard selected global institutions to improve cross-border liquidity and market access.

The exchange's own figures show how much it already depends on professional and overseas money. Institutional investors accounted for 78% of total traded value in the first ten months of 2026, and foreign investors made up 47%, according to the WAM report.

Why It Matters

Gulf exchanges are competing to deepen liquidity and broaden their investor base as governments push more state-linked companies towards listings and look for capital to fund diversification. Making it easier for large global banks to route client orders straight into the market lowers one of the practical barriers for international funds, which typically prefer to trade through their existing prime brokers rather than open local relationships.

The addition of a second global bank in a single year also comes as regional markets have contended with the effects of the conflict involving Iran and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. ADX did not say how much trading it expects UBS's clients to generate, and neither party disclosed any commercial terms.