Rain and Standard Chartered Establish Banking Agreement Across Bahrain and the UAE

Rain Financial Inc., a regulated crypto brokerage and custodian in the GCC, has signed a multi-jurisdictional banking agreement with Standard Chartered covering Bahrain and the UAE.

The agreement gives Rain access to banking services including segregated client money accounts, fiat settlement and correspondent banking across the two markets. Rain said the arrangement supports its retail and institutional customers and enables settlement in major fiat currencies including AED, BHD and USD.

Rain is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM FSRA). The company said the partnership extends the regulated framework governing how it holds and moves customer funds and strengthens its operational base in the region.

Background

Standard Chartered CEO for UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, Rola Abu Manneh, said Bahrain and the UAE are strengthening their positions as financial-services innovation hubs and that banking infrastructure will play a key role in supporting regulated digital-asset firms. AJ Nelson, co-founder of Rain, said strong banking relationships remain important for secure and efficient operations as digital asset markets evolve.

Founded in 2017, Rain describes itself as the leading GCC-based crypto brokerage and custodian. It has more than 2 million users and has processed over $11 billion in volume since inception. In addition to its CBB and ADGM licences, Rain is registered with Turkey's MASAK and holds an in-principle approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

Standard Chartered said it operates in 54 markets globally. The bank is listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.