Bridging Dubai and Singapore: A private banking mission in a changing world

Gulf Business

05-06-2025

Bank of Singapore's head of private banking for Europe and the Middle East, Ranjit Khanna.
Late one May evening, the Burj Khalifa's LED façade burst into red and white.
The world's tallest tower was celebrating 40 years of bilateral trade between Singapore and the UAE, its pin-sharp stripes forming the flag of the Lion City.
From an apartment a few streets away, Ranjit Khanna – head of private banking for Bank of Singapore in the Middle East and Europe – watched, phone in hand, capturing the moment. It was, he says, 'so wonderful' to see the city he now calls home illuminate the country that shaped his career.
The flash of colour is a neat metaphor for Khanna himself: a banker whose roots stretch from high-school days in Dubai to three decades on the trading floors of Singapore, London and New York – and whose mission today is to fuse Asian expertise with Gulf ambition.
Khanna's biography reads like a map of the modern private-wealth industry. Born to a banker father who was posted around the region, he finished school in Dubai, started university at the American University in Cairo, then crossed the Atlantic to begin his career with American Express Bank in 1990. Four years later he was back in the UAE as a relationship manager for Standard Chartered; by 2010 he was leading Coutts' Southeast Asia franchise out of Singapore. In 2023, the call came to return once more to Dubai – this time to anchor Bank of Singapore's push across the Middle East and Europe.
Today, he leads a team of around 140 people, a figure that he says 'has grown headcount almost threefold in the last four or five years'.
Much of that expansion has been on the front line: last year alone the DIFC branch increased its private-banker ranks by over 20 per cent, while simultaneously beefing up product and advisory benches. The client base is diverse but focused, serving three core segments: Global South Asia (including Indian and Pakistani entrepreneurs based in Dubai), GCC high-net-worth families, and international expats from the UK, Europe and increasingly, China.
'This region has long-standing cultural and economic ties to South Asia,' says Khanna. 'Many of our clients or their families have been part of the entrepreneurial fabric of the UAE for generations. That affinity, combined with Dubai's openness and strategic location, makes it a natural centre for private wealth.'
He compares the regional trading culture with Singapore's own development, where merchants from Fujian, especially those from the Hokkien-speaking south, helped shape a nation.
The power of a three-hub model
Bank of Singapore's own evolution mirrors that same cross-cultural dynamic. Its parent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), is 'the oldest Singaporean bank' – founded more than 90 years ago to serve overseas Chinese merchants across Southeast Asia.
In 2010, OCBC acquired the Asian and Middle East franchise of ING Private Bank, and formed a fully fledged, stand-alone private bank under the name, Bank of Singapore. Khanna sums it up crisply: 'We are the only independent global Asian private bank.'
The Dubai office continues to expand on the deep client roots built from the bank's ING Asia heritage. Under CEO Jason Moo – appointed March 2023 from a Swiss rival – Bank of Singapore now operates a three-hub model. Hong Kong covers Greater China; Singapore leads ASEAN; and Dubai oversees all business west of the Strait of Malacca, including offices in Luxembourg and London.
Traditionally, institutions like Bank of Singapore would have run EMEA operations from Europe. Khanna explains that the bank deliberately reversed this: 'We believe the Middle East has a much more important role to play.' This shift reflects Dubai's growing global influence, not just as a financial centre but as a magnet for wealth and talent.
Indeed, the DIFC hub now accounts for a significant share of Bank of Singapore's global business, with ambitions to grow that further in line with the emirate's D33 vision. 'For simplicity's sake, my title is head of Middle East and Europe, ,' Khanna says. 'But really, anything west of Singapore comes under the Dubai hub.'
That ambition comes at a time when private wealth dynamics are shifting. After a post-pandemic boom in asset prices, 2022 brought a correction: global wealth shrank by 4 per cent. Yet the UAE saw wealth grow by 8 per cent.
'That is on the back of really positive government federal policies, as well as investments in business and communities… and the sheer generation of wealth,' says Khanna.
What's more, Dubai is now home to the world's second-largest millionaire migration after Singapore, according to the likes of Henley & Partners.
'In many ways, the UAE in particular has been a beneficiary of the largest millionaire migration in the world, rivalled only by Singapore. So for us, we are in the two of the best markets.'
Building resilience, not just returns
As expectations rise, so too does the need for deeper insight.
'Clients in the Middle East have become far more engaged and discerning, and they are looking for advisors who can deliver not only performance but also perspective — clarity amid volatility,' says Khanna.
Bank of Singapore's answer has been to invest heavily in advisory strength and insight generation. 'To help clients navigate uncertain times, we are committed to building intellectual capital, bringing together leading minds and encouraging diversity of thought,' he says.
The bank established its CIO Global Advisory Council in 2024 to support this effort. Bank of Singapore released the inaugural CIO Supertrends Report, and has continued to refine it with updates in 2025. 'The idea is to look at things from a five-year horizon rather than the immediate here and now,' Khanna notes.
In February 2025, Bank of Singapore held its CIO Summit in Dubai, where thought leaders discussed strategy in a multi-polar world. This year will also see the launch of a new global asset allocation framework, which Khanna calls a major milestone.
'We employed a rigorous process to review over 60,000 portfolios, putting each portfolio through more than 24,000 stress tests… more than 1.4 billion stress tests conducted in total across eight months,' he says. 'We construct portfolios to perform reasonably well across a range of plausible scenarios, even if the forecasts of individual asset classes do not meet expectations.'
The bank's diversification strategy spans equity styles, fixed income and alternatives. 'Diversification today goes beyond geography and asset class,' Khanna says. 'We are regularly discussing low volatility and high-quality equity strategies… Fixed Income at these yield levels and with rate cuts priced across key Developed Markets remains an important component… alternatives provide diversification benefits with less directional exposure to both equity and credit markets as well as inflation hedging characteristics.'
Guiding families through generational transitions
While investment performance is essential, legacy planning is just as critical for many families. 'We see increasing interest and awareness among our ultra-high-net-worth clients and families in relation to generational wealth transfer,' Khanna says.
Bank of Singapore's Financial Intermediaries, Family Office and Wealth Advisory (FFWA) unit works directly with families to structure wealth transitions. 'They want to start this conversation early, and they are looking for suitable tools and wealth protection solutions,' he says.
'An equally important role of a private bank in supporting clients in their succession and legacy journey is fostering conversations among family members to align values, vision, and responsibilities,' Khanna adds. 'It is not just about the transfer of the financial capital but also about the human, social and cultural capital that is intrinsic to maintaining the family legacy.'
The bank also advises families on philanthropy, multi-family office structures, and governance models depending on complexity and scale.
A bridge between capital flows
Looking ahead, the growth corridors between the Gulf and Asia will only deepen. 'Our clients in the Middle East are increasingly looking East,' says Khanna. 'The core of our investment team is based in Asia… this facilitates on-the-ground research and networks helping us identify long-term opportunities that align with our clients' return and risk appetite.'
That value is matched by Singapore's status as a trusted booking centre. 'Singapore offers a powerful trifecta: political stability, robust regulation, and global connectivity. It is a neutral and trusted gateway to Asia: ideal for asset diversification and international wealth structuring.'
'We do not just carry the 'Singapore' name; we embody the 'Singapore' identity, reflecting the reliability that our clients seek,' Khanna says.
At a time when the Middle East and Asia are becoming the two dominant centres of new wealth creation, Bank of Singapore's footprint and focus feel prescient. 'We are Asia's global private bank – Asian in values, global in capabilities and perspectives.'
That blend of cultural alignment, institutional rigour, and global insight is what brought Khanna back to Dubai in the first place. 'For me to be successful, what do I want? I want a great brand – box checked. I want a great platform – box checked. I want to make sure I'm working with an institution that's got the right balance sheet so that we can help our clients – box checked.'
Success, he insists, is not about league tables. 'If you look at the number of people we employ in the private bank, we're the third largest in the DIFC,' he says. 'What matters is when clients think about a private bank, they want to engage, we're top of mind.'
As the lights of the Burj Khalifa glow once more this year – maybe next time to mark a new milestone for the bank itself – it's clear that the relationship between Singapore and Dubai is more than symbolic. It's strategic.