Family offices consider ditching Switzerland for Dubai

Tax and regulatory changes are causing family offices that manage bns in assets to consider relocation from Switzerland to Dubai, the Financial Times reports, with two major family offices in Switzerland already beginning the transition to the emirate, managing partner at Taylor Wessing’s Dubai office Ronald Graham told the news outlet.

Why the potential exodus? Family offices in Switzerland are coming up against an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. Higher transparency and disclosure requirements, a tighter definition of “family” leading to stricter regulation and licensing, and a proposed 50% tax on large inheritance and gifts — expected to be rejected but nonetheless unnerving for high net worth individuals — has led wealthy families to move their assets and financial operations elsewhere.

And so to Dubai: 2024 saw 200 family offices join Dubai offshore financial center, bringing the total to 800, attracted by its high living standard, favorable regulatory system, and government incentives and subsidies for HNWIs. A more flexible definition of “family” also helps family offices avoid some of the more onerous regulatory requirements.

It’s not just Switzerland: This comes against a broader trend of family and multi-family offices looking for alternatives. The UK’s scrapping of its non-dom regime, sanctions on Russian assets, and high taxes in Europe are further pushing the influx to Dubai.