Dubai’s Emirates NBD enters into MoU with Israel’s Bank Hapoalim

Dubai-based lender Emirates NBD has signed an MoU with Israel’s Bank Hapoalim on Monday.

The agreement will allow Israeli clients to transact directly in the UAE.

A statement carried by the Dubai Media Office said that the MoU is part of a broader engagement between the UAE and Israel “to further peace, dialogue and stability and establish cooperation to promote sustainable development.”

Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in MENA region & Turkey, signs an MoU with Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s largest banks. The MoU is part of a broader engagement between the UAE & Israel to further peace, dialogue, & stability.https://t.co/weNTiChQHI pic.twitter.com/aOhM9bK2GZ

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) September 14, 2020

The agreement was signed by Emirates NBD’s vice chairman and managing director Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim and group CEO Shayne Nelson, and Bank Hapoalim’s CEO Dov Kotler.

Read: Emirates NBD posts 45% dip in net profit for H1 2020

“We are pleased to sign this agreement, which will support the two countries’ shared objective of enhancing economic and commercial engagement. The MoU will open new business and trade opportunities for our clients and further enhance our leading position as a trusted banking partner to businesses across the MENAT region,” said Nelson.

“It is a great honour to be the first bank to sign such an agreement that will contribute to the establishment of the relationship between the two countries,” added Kotler.

Another Israeli lender, Bank Leumi, has sent a 20-member delegation of senior executives, led by chairman Samer Haj Yehia and CEO Hanan Friedman to the UAE this week. They too are expected to sign cooperation agreements with leading Emirati banks.

UAE’s First Abu Dhabi Bank tweeted earlier this month confirming that it too was planning on talks with Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi.

Read: First Abu Dhabi Bank to start talks with Israeli lenders

On September 15, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is expected to sign a historic peace agreement with Israel in Washington.