It is present in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean.

In the early nineteenth century, Safra Frères et Cie., the family's first financial institution, was founded in the Ottoman Empire in Aleppo, Syria.

Following the end of World War II, Jacob Safra expanded the new banking activities toward Europe and later to Latin America and the United States.

[2] In 2012, the J. Safra Group came to hold all of Sarasin's shares after making an offer to acquire stakes from minority shareholders.

[3] In November 2014, it bought for 726 million pounds (or 2.9 billion reais) one of the largest buildings in London, 30 St Mary Axe or Gherkin.