Wealthy Asians looking to move assets out of Dubai due to conflict, S'pore a destination: Reuters

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Wealthy Asians looking to move assets out of Dubai due to conflict, S'pore a destination: Reuters​

Some re-evaluate UAE's stability, some unfazed.


Gawain Pek

March 07, 2026, 03:24 PM​

Following the outbreak of the recent Middle East conflict, there has been an increase in enquiries by wealthy Asians looking to move their capital out of Dubai and to countries like Singapore as they re-evaluate the region's stability.

Wealthy re-evaluate stability​

In recent years, Dubai has grown to be a preferred wealth hub with "favourable policies", Reuters wrote.

However, the recent conflict, which has seen retaliatory strikes by Iran in countries like the UAE and Qatar, has led to doubt about the UAE's reputation for stability.

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Shifting assets to Singapore, Hong Kong​

Reuters reported that soon after the first retaliatory strikes by Iran reached Dubai, two Indian entrepreneurs tried to move more than US$100,000 (S$128,000) from their local bank accounts to Singapore in a risk-hedging move.

The entrepreneurs are among scores of other wealthy Asians making enquiries or taking similar steps to move their assets held in Dubai to other regional financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong.

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One Singapore-based private wealth lawyer, Ryan Lin, shared with Reuters that about seven of his 20 Dubai-based clients, with an average of US$50 million (S$64 million) each in assets, have reached out with plans to transfer assets to Singapore.

A principal at a global corporate and fund services provider, Anderson Global, Iris Xu, has received enquiries this week from 10 to 20 family offices about moving assets back to Singapore from Dubai.

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Xu told Reuters, "Dubai was always about tax benefits but now I think the tax benefits may not be the top priority for them."

Another wealth manager shared that out of 13 UAE-based clients they had spoken to, more than half are serious about moving assets to Singapore, Reuters wrote.

Some unfazed​

However, not all wealth managers and their clients are worried.

Dhruba Jyoti Sengupta, CEO of Dubai-based WRISE Private Middle East, a wealth management group, told Reuters that he has not seen "serious capital flight discussions" and that clients were confident about the UAE's "long-term resilience".

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The CEO said that the investors he works with are "deeply invested... in the UAE's growth story" and feel "safe and secure", despite the ongoing conflict.

On Mar. 5, the UAE's central bank governor expressed confidence in the country's banking and financial sector, saying that it was resilient and well-positioned to navigate regional developments, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, the co-founder of GrandWay Family Office, Jeremy Lim, said his plans to open a family office in Abu Dhabi remained unchanged, so long as the UAE does not become directly involved in the conflict and barring any further escalation from Iran.
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[congo9]

After a while , they move their asset back.