Top officials pose for a group photo at the meeting.

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

ABU DHABI: UAE Banks Federation (UBF) hosted its Board of Directors meeting to review its 2018 key initiatives and achievements, as well as discuss UBF’s priorities and strategic plans for the year ahead. Presided over by AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation, the meeting involved discussions around the latest themes in the local and global banking sector, including innovation, regulation, Emiratization, and SME Finance.

AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation, said: “UAE Banks Federation has witnessed another successful year, as our local banking sector continues to evolve and progress at a rapid pace. UBF will continue strengthening collaboration among member banks, withstanding challenges, and developing solutions for the benefit of the industry at large.”

Despite regional and global volatility and uncertainty, UAE’s GDP is projected to grow at 3.5% this year, while the local banking sector, marking sufficient liquidity and capital adequacy of 18%, is expected to grow at 6.5%.

“As the sector faces technological and structural changes accompanied by increased regulation and compliance, we will continue supporting our member banks in exploring innovative, efficient and transparent ways of operating, to improve services provided to their customers. We are well positioned for a successful year and we look forward to celebrating more achievements in 2019,” he added. A number of high-priority topics for UBF were also discussed at the meeting, including FATF Mutual Evaluation, AML, and Cybersecurity. The meeting also explored the challenges of compliance for banks and financial institutions in relation to both local and international regulations, and the need for the banking sector to take positive and efficient steps towards the use of artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, and blockchain technology in the banking industry.

Established in 1982, the UAE Banks Federation is a professional representative body comprising 52-member banks operating in the UAE. The Federation advocates all banks’ interests, and enhances cooperation and coordination among them, in order to promote and upgrade the UAE’s banking industry for the benefit of the banking sector, its customers, and the national economy.

The UAE Banks Federation’s mission and objectives are focused on representing its member banks and defending their interests and rights. The federation provides a platform for cooperation and exchange of ideas and opinions among member banks and plays a major role in raising public awareness around the beneficial role and distinctive financial, economic and social contribution of the banks to the UAE.

The Federation has an Advisory Council consisting of 28 Bank CEOs which oversees the implementation of the policies, follows up on UBF’s activities and makes necessary decisions, and 20 specialized technical committees who discuss all relevant banking issues.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC), one of the leading regional multi-line insurance providers for corporates and individuals, has added another coveted recognition to its list of industry awards. ADNIC was recently selected for the top honours in Excellence in Insurance Digitisation at Finnovex Awards 2019.

Finnovex Awards are organised by Exibex, a market leader in knowledge-based conferences, managed events and consulting.

 Commenting on the award Ahmad Idris, CEO of ADNIC said: “This recognition is further validation of the success of our ongoing efforts to bring the benefits of digitisation to our customers and provide them with leading-edge products and services. At ADNIC we are always keen to embrace the latest technology to ensure we meet our customers’ requirements and remain ahead of the curve in the rapidly-evolving industry landscape. This award is the result of the hard work of all our employees and spurs us on to push the technology envelope even further.” Finnovex Awards, were constituted to recognise the effort of various individuals, institutions and service providers in the field of financial services. It seeks to honour the pioneers and visionaries who have transformed the financial services industry.

 Over the past few years ADNIC has invested heavily in digital product development and partnerships that ensure the company is making use of the latest technology on the market to provide unrivalled services to its customers. ADNIC continuously seeks to expand its product offering to deliver innovative insurance solutions to individual customers, as well as corporations.

 “These industry awards are extremely important to us as they are an independent validation of our efforts to offer our customers with the best possible products. And while we are proud to receive this coveted title, we are driven by our desire to deliver unerring service to our customers - they are at the heart and soul of everything that we do here at ADNIC,” added  Idris.

Finnovex Awards are aimed at honouring organisations and individuals, that have consistently demonstrated exemplary performance and ADNIC’s digital transformation journey, coupled with its record financial performance in the past quarters, have resulted in this accolade.