Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd. has appointed Roy Zaatar as Managing Director Senior Advisor and Group Head, joining the bank's Middle East and Africa leadership team in Dubai with effect from 16 September 2026. In the role he leads a group of relationship managers covering the region, and reports to Regis Burger, Head of Middle East and Africa at Julius Baer.
Zaatar brings close to two decades of experience to the position. He spent the last 11 years with Barclays in the Dubai International Financial Centre, where he most recently served as Team Leader and Market Head for Arab Diaspora and Global India. Earlier in his career he held positions at Credit Agricole (Suisse) SA. The bank describes his profile as combining an entrepreneurial mindset with a strong appreciation for risk discipline, and points to his track record in building high performing teams.
"We are thrilled to welcome Roy to our leadership team in Dubai as we continue to grow and expand," said Burger. "Roy brings an exceptional, established client network across the Middle East, alongside deep market expertise and a proven strategic mindset that will be instrumental as we deepen our regional footprint and deliver the full breadth of our wealth management capabilities to clients."
A DIFC franchise built on licence number one
Julius Baer (Middle East) has been present in the DIFC since the centre's inception, holding licence number 1 as the first firm authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Over more than two decades the Dubai business has grown into one of the largest and most established international wealth managers in the centre, serving ultra high net worth and high net worth clients across the region.
The appointment continues a period of senior movement in the Dubai franchise. Executive Moves reported in October 2025 that Burger had been promoted to chief executive of Julius Baer Middle East, and in April 2026 that the bank had named former DFSA chief executive Bryan Stirewalt as its Middle East chairman. The latest release describes Burger's remit as Head of Middle East and Africa, a regional brief that now takes in the group of relationship managers Zaatar will lead.
Group context
Julius Baer is the Swiss wealth management group whose principal operating company, Bank Julius Baer and Co. Ltd., traces its origins to 1890. According to the company, assets under management stood at CHF 547 billion at the end of June 2026, and the group is present in around 25 countries and 60 locations, with offices including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Singapore and Zurich alongside its Zurich headquarters. Julius Baer Group Ltd. is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker BAER and is a constituent of the Swiss Leader Index.
Competition for relationship managers covering the Gulf and the wider Arab diaspora has been a running theme in Executive Moves coverage of the DIFC and Abu Dhabi Global Market. Julius Baer itself expanded its global NRI team in Dubai in 2024, while Standard Chartered Private Bank hired a cluster head for Middle East and Africa in 2025. Zaatar's move places a banker with a long DIFC record at the head of one of those teams.
