Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday it has formed a new partnership with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a leading financial institution, to seek opportunities to collaborate and consult on initiatives to promote the growth and development of the fintech ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, as well as the UAE.
ADGM reported that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Sagheer Mufti, Chief Operating Officer at ADIB, and Richard Teng, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, and witnessed by witnessed by H.E Ahmed Al Sayegh, Chairman, ADGM and Mr. Khamis Bu Haroon, Vice Chairman and Acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Under the terms of the MoU, ADIB will partner with the FSRA across a range of Sharia’s-compliant fintech-related initiatives. This partnership further complements ADGM’s ongoing innovation and fintech commitment to support entrepreneurs, start-ups, and members of the Abu Dhabi Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab), a regulatory framework that offers a controlled, supportive environment for fintech innovators to develop and test their products and services with the regulator.”
While sharing more details about the partnership, Sagheer Mufti, COO at ADIB, stated:
“Both ADIB and ADGM have placed considerable focus and investment into supporting fintech companies which can deliver additional value for our customers. The long-term success of the fintech ecosystem in the UAE will be achieved through collaboration between established financial institutions and fintech entrepreneurs, underpinned by a robust and supportive regulatory environment. Formalising our partnership with ADGM puts in place a framework through which ADIB can leverage its own experience in developing innovative technology to support fintech start-ups.”
Richard Teng, CEO and FSRA of ADGM, also commented:
“The collaboration with ADIB represents our efforts working with stakeholders to support innovation in a world-class regulatory environment. ADGM and ADIB share common objective in advocating best practice, nurturing and fostering innovation and facilitating growth in our fintech ecosystem. We look forward to working closely with the ADIB team to develop initiatives and programmes that will capture new business opportunities and expand our fintech reach locally and globally.”
ADIB and ADGM added they will also explore and participate in joint innovation projects on the development and application of technologies such as digital and mobile payments, blockchain and distributed ledgers and artificial intelligence. Both entities will also seek to develop local fintech entrepreneurship through mentorship and knowledge transfer across incubation, accelerator, academic and internship programmes.
Meanwhile, ADGM has scheduled a Fintech conference to engage the industry’s thought leaders, financial regulators and platforms at the upcoming FinTech Abu Dhabi in October 2017.