The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has granted a licence to Apex Fund Services Ltd to establish operations in Bahrain.
Apex is a privately owned provider of fund administration and related services to offshore funds and companies. Headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda and established in 2003, it is one of the world’s fastest growing fund administrators, with $5.5 billion of assets under administration and 60 staff worldwide based in nine offices in multiple jurisdictions.
“Bahrain is a leading financial centre in the Middle East, which offers the necessary infrastructure, regulatory framework and cost-effective environment needed for us to continue to provide the highest level of service to our clients across the Gulf region,” says Peter Hughes, managing director at Apex Fund Services in Bermuda. “Having been the first regulated fund administrator in the Dubai, it was only logical for us to expand our presence in the Gulf region by opening an office in Bahrain.”
Apex Fund Services (Bahrain) WLL is due to begin operations in Manama in January 2008 under the leadership of Craig Roberts, managing director of Apex Dubai and Nicolas Angio, who joins Apex from Bisys Hedge Fund Services. The Bahrain office will be regulated by the CBB and will be able to provide daily, weekly and monthly valuations to traditional funds, hedge funds and private equity funds and will have the ability to accept Arabic subscription and redemption documents, as well as offering Shari’ah compliant products.
“We are very pleased to welcome such a dynamic and growing business as Apex Fund Services to Bahrain,” says Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, chief executive of the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Bahrain. “We are committed to supporting our advancement as a leading regional hub for fund administration. Apex’s decision to locate here is a key endorsement of that strategy.”