Hidden Road, a leading broker focusing on crypto and traditional assets that Ripple recently agreed to acquire, has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, according to two people with knowledge of the issue.
The office will be led by company partner James Stickland, people who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private.
Hidden Road confirmed its plans.
The company has received principled approval (IPA) from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Hidden Road said in a press release shared with Coindesk on Thursday.
Members of the Abu Dhabi royal family could potentially participate in the board of directors of the company’s local companies when they received final regulatory approval, one of the people said.
Once Hidden Road receives this final approval, it will be permitted to provide clearing and Prime brokerage services to institutional investors in the UAE, the company said.
They are not the only companies moving in the area. Circle, the publisher of USDC, the second largest Stablecoin, said it had received principled regulatory approval from Abu Dhabi last month, paving the way for expansion across the Middle East.
Prime brokers are an important part of the plumbing of financial markets. They provide trading, funding and storage services to large institutions.
Stickland is a crypto company backed by Alan Howard, former CEO of Elwood Technologies and Elwood Asset Management and billionaire hedge fund manager. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined Hidden Road more than a year ago.
Ripple last month agreed to buy the multi-asset Prime Broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, marking one of the biggest M&A deals in the digital asset industry to date.
Leading by Brad Garlinghouse, Crypto Company aims to inject fresh capital into hidden roads to expand clearing, prime broker and financing operations, making the company the largest non-bank prime broker globally.
Hidden Road said last month it had been strengthening its bond prime brokerage company after receiving FINRA approval to operate as a US broker-dealer.
read more: Hidden Road, which is expected to be acquired by Ripple, will win a Broker-Dealer license
