State Street Corporation discussed plans to expand its operations in the UAE at a meeting in Dubai on Sunday between its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ronald P. O’Hanley, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Maktoum is First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, and President of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The talks covered State Street’s expansion plans and jobs for Emirati talent in technology, artificial intelligence and financial services, the Emirates News Agency WAM reported. The two sides also discussed cooperation in investment management, financial technology and capital markets.
The agency did not give an investment figure or a timeline for the expansion.
State Street had $59.2 trillion in assets under custody or administration and $6.3 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2026, according to WAM. It reported record revenue of about $14 billion in 2025, up more than 7% from the previous year.
State Street employs about 51,000 people in more than 100 markets. Its investment management arm, State Street Investment Management, has an office in the DIFC.
The company is also building an operations center in Al Ain, which it announced in January. Jack Keshishian, State Street’s head of Middle East and North Africa, excluding Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, told The National in October that the center was targeting a July 1, 2027 opening.
The center is expected to have 300 staff by 2030, about 100 of them Emiratis, Keshishian told the newspaper. He did not give an investment figure.
State Street has also applied to expand the services it offers at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s financial center, to include safeguarding client assets and administering investment funds, subject to approval, The National reported.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, attended Sunday’s meeting. So did Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of the DIFC Authority.
Dubai’s economic agenda, known as D33, aims to place the emirate among the world’s top four financial centers.
