UAE security adviser Tahnoun backs Trump family’s new US bank

Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser and brother of the country’s president, is among the leading investors backing a new US bank being prepared for launch by Trump family-linked company World Liberty Financial, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

People familiar with the matter told the newspaper that Tahnoun and other investors are behind an entity that owns 49 per cent — the largest stake — in the holding company established by World Liberty Financial to house its banking project.

Tahnoun backed a $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial last year in exchange for a 49 per cent stake in the company, according to an earlier Wall Street Journal report.

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Earlier this month, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted World Liberty Financial conditional preliminary approval to establish a federally chartered national trust bank. The bank will issue, redeem and hold USD1, a dollar-backed stablecoin launched by the company last year.

The project represents an expansion of the business relationship between the Trump family-backed cryptocurrency company and a foreign government official.

Tahnoun serves as the UAE’s national security adviser and is the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He also oversees an empire worth more than $1.3 trillion, funded by his personal wealth and state money, according to the newspaper.

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