Banks federation sees comfortable liquidity and solid capitalisation for UAE banks

Dubai: The Board of Directors of the UAE Banks Federation, a professional body representing 49 member banks operating in the UAE, has held its third meeting of the year to review progress on top priorities for the Federation in the coming year and to approve the Federation’s budget for 2016.

Among the items considered at the meeting was progress on the creation of a Higher Sharia Board by the Central Bank to oversee the future development and co-ordination of the Islamic banking sector in the UAE.

AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation said the banking sector in UAE proved to be as one of the strongest in the region and remains solid as revealed in the comfortable liquidity and strong capitalisation.

The Board was also advised on the implementation of Basel III requirements by UAE banks which aim to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of the banking industry. The Basel III framework of standards aims to improve the banking sector’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, improve risk management and governance and strengthen banks’ transparency and disclosures.

“The federation has assured for another consecutive year its ability to deliver achievements and milestones, supported by the collaborative work banks are doing to maintain and strengthen the sector despite the challenging business environment; We are looking forward to another year of fruitful cooperation with the Central Bank of UAE,” said Al Ghurair.

In addition, the Federation’s work programme for 2016 was presented to the board. Key items include finalisation of UAE Central Bank regulation governing digital payments, the launch of commercial borrowers’ credit reports by AECB, the introduction of the draft insolvency law, and approval of procedures for netting between banks (consolidation of two or more transactions, payments or positions for a single settlement).

The Board was also advised of the initial priorities for the 5 new specialised committees established earlier in the year, namely marketing, audit, operations and payments, IT, and fraud.