Emirates NBD Capital can soon get a slice of India’s booming equity market, after becoming the first Middle Eastern investment bank to secure a category I merchant banking license from India’s securities regulator, it said in a press release. The license allows the bank to act as a bookrunner for IPOs and manage equity and debt placements on the ground in Mumbai.

The move puts Emirates NBD in a great spot to position itself as a primary conduit for MENA liquidity into Indian issuances, and to get a piece of a market that has been booming — with some USD 20 bn raised via IPOs alone in 2025, and more of that to come in 2026.

What’s next? Expect ENBD to pitch its investor network of MENA-based SWFs and UHNWIs to Indian issuers looking to diversify their orderbooks.

It also comes as the lender steadily scales up its India exposure: Earlier this month, India’s competition watchdog cleared the bank’s proposed USD 3 bn acquisition of a majority stake in RBL Bank. The move would see Emirates NBD take control of the solvent Indian private lender — a first in the country’s tightly regulated banking sector.

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