The Central Bank of Bahrain has granted a representative office licence to Bank of Intesa Sanpaolo Private Bank (Suisse) SA to operate in Kingdom of Bahrain.

Intesa Sanpaolo Private Bank (Suisse) SA was established in 2001 with its headquarters in Switzerland. It is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and is wholly owned by Intesa Sanpaolo SPA of Italy.

When announcing the decision, Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Bassam, the central bank's director of licensing, was keen to point out that Bahrain hosts many Swiss Banks that provide private banking to the region.