Speeches 2018

Sunday, November 11, 2018
 

Your Excellency the Governor of Central Bank of Kuwait, Dr. Mohammad Al-Hashel, Your Excellency the Assistant Governor of UAE Central Bank, Mr. Saif Hadef Al Shamsi,

distinguished guests,
 

Ladies & gentlemen, 
 

I welcome you all to the Middle East Banking Forum 2018. This is the 6th Edition of the forum hosted by UAE Banks Federation and this year’s theme of the forum is “Banking 10 years from now”
 

First let me talk about the year gone by.
 

Inspite of volatility across the markets and the regional challenges, UAE banking sector remained healthy and continued to grow though modestly. The total banking sector
assets at end of Sept 2018 reached USD 763 billion maintaining UAE’s position as the largest banking sector in the Arab world. The UAE Central bank issued many important regulations during last few months. I would like to especially mention about regulations regarding risk management function, IFRS9 and implementation of Basel III liquidity ratios. These regulations have far reaching effects and will further strengthen the UAE banking sector. 
 

The Netting law which was issued this year will make it easy to deal with international counterparties.
 

The much-awaited Central Bank law was issued last month which will replace the existing law no 10 of 1980. The new law will pave the way for further changes in regulations.
 

For UAE Banks Federation the last 12 months have been productive and many key initiatives were rolled out through the efforts of the federation. Here, I would like to thank UAE Central bank for their ongoing cooperation and guidance without which these activities would not have been possible.
 

Here are some of the major achievements: 
 

First:
 

The Emirates Digital Wallet project initiated by UBF and joined by 16 leading UAE banks is progressed fast and soon we will launch a digital wallet with the top three benefits being:
 

1. Financial Inclusion: provide an instant account opening ecosystem to all the UAE residents, therefore allowing them to carry out payments and transfers through their mobile devices.

2. Cash Migration: Eliminate 50% of the AED 68 billion cash circulated in the economy within the next 5 years, which has an estimated cost of up to 4% of cash in circulation.

3. News Eco System for Merchants Acceptance: Provide a cost effective and seamless payment ecosystem for small and medium business sector through a nationwide QR Code acceptance scheme.
 

Second:
 

‘Tasharuk’ is an information sharing platform, which has been established where all interested UAE based banks can share and exchange information on cyber threats without compromising confidentiality. This is a very useful platform to protect, detect and respond to cyber-attacks in a timely-manner. 
 

Third:
 

UBF worked hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Justice and developed a framework to test and certify Courts Banking Experts, whose job is to help UAE courts on complex financial matters. This framework has been revamped with an examination, developed together with an independent leading consultant, as well as, an extensive Test which Court Expert Candidate would have to undertake, and, if they pass, they sit down for the face-to-face interview in front of the certification panel.
 

Fourth:
 

Ethical selling practices framework, developed by UBF and adopted by all UAE banks, defines minimum standards for Ethical sales of banking products. This proactive initiative by UBF will strengthen consumer protection efforts. 
 

Fifth:
 

A unified customer complaint handling framework has been set up and endorsed by the UAE Central Bank to be applied across the industry, which will go a long way in boosting consumers’ confidence in banking industry.
 

Sixth:
 

The establishment of Higher Sharia Authority to standardize the Sharia Governance was based on UBH recommendations.
 

Seventh:
 

A joint initiative with UAE central bank helped us outline a framework for defining key components and controls for AML and Sanctions Compliance. Based on this, all banks in the UAE were to undertake an external/independent assessment of their AML and Sanctions framework.

 

Coming back to today’s program, I am confident that you will find the proceedings of the day insightful and thought provoking. We have speakers and panelists representing policy makers, bankers, and industry experts, and I am sure that you will find their views and analysis useful in shaping your thoughts and strategies for the future of banking in this region.
 

Thank you all, once again, for your participation in this important forum.