The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) on Monday held a meeting at Qasr Al Watan, chaired by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CBUAE.

The board members approved the new CBUAE’s organisational structure, which has been designed to ensure more resilience and elasticity as well as keep pace with latest developments and advancements in the financial service sector.

Toward this end, the board approved the appointments of Ibrahim Obaid Al Zaabi as CBUAE’s Assistant Governor of the Monetary Policy and Stability Department; Dr. Sabri Hamed Al Azazi as Assistant Governor of the Banking Operations Department; Ahmed Saeed Ghanem Al Qamzi as Assistant Governor of the Banking and Insurance Supervision Department; Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri as Assistant Governor for Strategic Affairs - Financial Infrastructure and Digitisation Department; and Fatima Abdullah Al Jabri as Assistant Governor for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance- Market Conduct Regulation and Consumer Protection Department.

The board issued a decision to appoint a coalition of companies to serve as the solution provider for the instant payment platform to be responsible for implementing the second phase of the National Payment Systems Strategy.

The board also approved the enforcement of measures to be taken against facilities that violate the Central Bank’s policies and instructions.

The meeting reviewed the 2020 report of the Higher Shari’ah Authority (HSA), which details its decisions, milestones and future plans and initiatives.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairmen Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh and Jassem Mohammad Al Zaabi; and Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama Al Tameemi, along with the board’s members, Younis Al Khoori, Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, and Ali Mohammed Bakheet Al Rumaithi.

Shuaa Capital: Shuaa Capital, a  leading asset management and investment banking platform in the region, on Monday announced its intention to launch a new Digital Wealth Platform to serve existing clients as well as the next generation of investors. The company has appointed ex-Visa and Google alumnus, Hadi Raad, in the newly created role of Chief Digital Officer.

Shuaa’s new fintech is being created with the aim of providing investors with a seamless digital wealth management experience that leverages new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to elevate the traditional personal curated management to a whole new level. The new Fintech will build its own product capabilities while drawing on Shuaa’s asset management and investment proposition to set a new standard for user experience, advisory execution and portfolio allocation.

According to a recent study by Knight Frank, the number of HNWIs (high net-worth individuals) in the Middle East is expected to increase by an average of 12 percent by 2025 and that of UHNWIs (ultra-high-net-worth individuals) by over 26 percent during the same period, with 57 percent of these UHNWIs residing in Saudi Arabia and 23 percent in the UAE. The millennial and HNWI and Affluent investors are significantly underserved. Against this backdrop, Shuaa has identified a significant market opportunity to create a cutting-edge hybrid digital wealth platform that provides personalized curated management and advice.

Hadi joins Shuaa from Visa, where he served as Vice President & Regional Head of Digital Solutions for the Central Europe Middle East and Africa region, driving e-commerce products, contactless, mobile payments, digital wallets, and developer platform, among others. Prior to that, Hadi was Head of Products Marketing for Google’s Emerging Arabia, and worked on market development of Google consumer products such as YouTube, Android, Maps, Navigation and Chrome.

In his role as Shuaa’s Chief Digital Officer, Hadi will be responsible for building and leading this dynamic new fintech, driving product innovation and development, digital user experience design, fintech partnerships and digital wealth management platform. Hadi will report directly to Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of Shuaa.

Commenting on Hadi’s appointment and Shuaa’s digital plans, Jassim Alseddiqi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Shuaa, said, “Our intention to launch a new digital wealth platform is in line with our increasing focus on technology, which, as we have previously indicated, will be one of SHUAA’s top priorities going forward. This includes transforming our asset and wealth management capabilities and client experience in ways we have never done before. At the same time, we have identified a gap in the market for an innovative digital wealth offering that integrates best-in-class advisory services, execution and cutting-edge technology.

WAM