The UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) has completed a set of proposed legislative amendments to embed its updated excise tax policy on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) into national law. The reforms align with the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) adoption of a tiered volumetric model, aimed at creating a unified and health-focused taxation system across member states.

The revised policy is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2026, according to a report by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Read more-UAE’s new tax on sugary drinks: What it means for you, businesses

The proposed amendments aim to create a robust legal and regulatory infrastructure to ensure smooth nationwide implementation. The MoF stated that the framework was designed to support a competitive and adaptable tax environment, taking into account practical challenges that businesses may face during the transition period.

The changes reflect a broader strategy to modernise the tax system through proactive governance and ensure alignment with the UAE’s public health and fiscal objectives.

Clear deduction mechanism for previously taxed goods

A major feature of the amendments is the tiered taxation structure based on sugar content or other sweeteners. This model introduces varying excise rates depending on the beverage’s composition, replacing the flat 50 per cent tax rate previously applied.

The amendments also provide clarity for businesses with inventory taxed under the previous regime. Taxable entities that imported or produced goods before the new rules take effect, and whose tax liability has decreased as a result, will be eligible to partially reclaim the difference, provided those goods remain unsold.

The MoF reaffirmed that these changes are part of the UAE’s commitment to fiscal sustainability, enhanced tax transparency, and long-term public health improvements, underlining a forward-looking approach to policy reform.

At just 29 years old, Antonio Roulet Magides is already a disruptor in his field.

As founder and CEO of Solvent Global, and managing member of Solvent Capital Partners, he represents a new generation of fintech entrepreneurs transforming compliance from a back-office necessity into a strategic advantage.

Headquartered in London and New York, Solvent Global has built what Magides calls “the compliance operating system for the next generation of financial services.” Its API-first platform helps major banks, insurers and hedge funds automate KYC, sanctions screening and cross-border reporting, cutting false positives by up to 80 per cent and delivering regulator-ready audit trails through explainable AI.

Recently he also took the stage at Money 20/20 Middle East in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he joined executives from Dell Technologies, Derayah Financial and Dyna.Ai to discuss how financial institutions can scale secure, AI-driven finance.

At Money 20/20, his company further drew attention for the launch of its new quantitative investment fund, Solvent Capital Partners, which applies Solvent Global’s data-driven approach to asset management.

Beyond compliance, Magides has also been pushing into AI-enabled trading technology through Solvent.Life, a sister company under the Solvent ecosystem. Earlier this year, Global Banking & Finance Review profiled Solvent.Life’s breakthrough in AI-driven image recognition for financial chart analysis — technology that automatically interprets chart patterns and trading setups in real time. Its app, Solvent GPT, available on iOS and Android, uses deep-learning algorithms to analyse uploaded trade screenshots and generate tailored insights, achieving an 80 per cent win ratio in backtesting.

In this interview, he discusses the launch of Solvent Capital Partners, the evolution of RegTech, the value of data, and why the Middle East is his number-one priority for expansion.

You founded Solvent Global while completing your master’s in finance. Can you tell us how it began and what the company does today?

Solvent Global started as a data-conglomerate project while I was completing my master’s in Switzerland. The idea was to build proprietary algorithms for fund managers to gain an edge in the markets. But as the technology evolved, we saw that the data infrastructure we were creating had a much larger purpose. It made sense to apply it to regulatory technology — helping financial institutions automate compliance processes like KYC and sanctions screening.

Today, we call it ‘the compliance operating system for the next generation of financial services’. Our API-first platform connects to billions of verified data points globally, automating onboarding, monitoring, and reporting. We can reduce false positives by up to 80 per cent and deliver regulator-ready audit trails through explainable AI.

You recently launched the Solvent Capital Partners fund. What is its core thesis?

The fund was a natural progression. We realised that the same data that keeps institutions compliant can also generate alpha when structured and interpreted correctly. So we separated the compliance tech business from the investment arm to maintain independence and transparency. Solvent Capital Partners is essentially a quantitative fund that leverages regulatory and financial data to make smarter investment decisions. We use Clear Street as our prime broker, which lets us integrate our quant systems directly and test both discretionary and high-frequency strategies.

Where do you see financial institutions facing the greatest friction in compliance?

Cross-border KYC and sanctions screening remain the toughest challenges. As financial institutions become more global, legacy compliance systems struggle to adapt. They’re slow, costly, and rarely up to date. We’re tackling that with automation — billions of verified data points, an adaptive platform, and RESTful APIs that integrate directly with a client’s existing systems rather than replacing them entirely.

You’ve described data as “the new gold.” How do you manage and protect such sensitive information?

It really is the new commodity. We acquire data from multiple global sources and transform it through proprietary algorithms into actionable intelligence. Protecting that data is absolutely critical. We employ advanced encryption, strict access controls, and even closed-system infrastructure in our offices so that data never leaves our servers. Everything is built around governance and cybersecurity, audited by third-party specialists.

You’ve said the Middle East is your number one priority for growth. Why this region?

The region is undergoing rapid financial evolution. There are ambitious reforms, new digital banks, and a real appetite for innovative RegTech partners. Riyadh reminds me of Singapore twenty years ago: investing heavily in infrastructure, diversifying its economy, and becoming a financial hub. We’re already working with regulators and institutions across Saudi Arabia and the UAE to localise datasets and build compliance models that match local frameworks. It’s an incredibly exciting market for us.

How is AI shaping your business today, and where will it have the biggest impact?

AI is already transforming compliance. We use neural networks and large-language models to automate document verification, risk screening, and regulatory intelligence. Through open repositories like Hugging Face, we fine-tune large models to our proprietary datasets. The next twelve months are about scaling responsibly and securely — making AI an invisible, trusted part of the compliance workflow.

For you, what’s the end goal for Solvent Global?

To make compliance a competitive advantage, not a bottleneck. When compliance becomes intelligent, it doesn’t slow an organisation down — it drives it forward.

AMD will supply artificial intelligence chips to OpenAI in a multi-year deal that would bring in tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue and give the ChatGPT creator the option to buy up to roughly 10 per cent of the chipmaker.

Shares of the chipmaker surged more than 34 per cent on Monday, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain in over nine years and adding roughly $80bn to the company’s market value.

The deal, latest in a string of investment commitments, underscores OpenAI and the broader AI industry’s voracious appetite for computing power as companies race toward developing AI technology that meets or exceeds human intelligence.

“We view this deal as certainly transformative, not just for AMD, but for the dynamics of the industry,” said AMD executive vice president Forrest Norrod.

Read more: Sam Altman and G42’s Peng Xiao to headline GITEX GLOBAL 2025 AI dialogue

Vote of confidence

The agreement closely ties the startup at the centre of the AI boom to AMD, one of the strongest rivals of Nvidia, which recently agreed to make substantial investments in OpenAI.

Analysts said it was a major vote of confidence in AMD‘s AI chips and software but is unlikely to dent Nvidia’s dominance, as the market leader continues to sell every AI chip it can make.

It covers the deployment of hundreds of thousands of AMD‘s AI chips, or graphics processing units (GPUs), equivalent to six gigawatts, over several years beginning in the second half of 2026. This is roughly equivalent to the energy needs of 5 million US households, or about thrice the amount of power produced by the Hoover Dam.

AMD said OpenAI would build a one-gigawatt facility based on its forthcoming MI450 series of chips beginning next year, and that it would begin to recognise revenue then.

AMD executives expect the deal to net tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. Because of the ripple effect of the agreement, AMD expects to receive more than $100bn in new revenue over four years from OpenAI and other customers, they said.

The chipmaker is expected to report revenue of $32.78bn this year, according to LSEG data. In contrast, analysts are expecting Nvidia to report revenue of $206.26bn for the current fiscal year.

“AMD has really trailed Nvidia for quite some time. So I think it helps validate their technology,” said Leah Bennett, chief investment strategist at Concurrent Asset Management.

Shares of Nvidia dipped more than 1 per cent.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the AMD deal will help his startup build enough AI infrastructure to meet its needs.

It was not immediately clear how OpenAI would fund the massive deal.

OpenAI, which is valued at $500bn, generated around $4.3bn in revenue in the first half of 2025 and burned through $2.5bn in cash, according to media reports.

Deal details

As part of the arrangement, AMD issued a warrant that gives OpenAI the ability to buy up to 160 million shares of AMD for 1 cent each over the course of the chip deal. The warrant vests in tranches based on milestones that the two companies have agreed on.

The first tranche will vest after the initial shipment of MI450 chips set for the second half of 2026. The remaining milestones include specific AMD stock price targets that escalate to $600 a share for the final installment of stock to unlock.

In September, Nvidia announced a deal to supply OpenAI with at least 10 gigawatts worth of its systems.

In contrast with the startup’s deal with AMD where it will take a stake in the chipmaker, Nvidia will invest $100bn in the ChatGPT parent under the terms of the agreement announced in September.

Taking a stake in AMD could give OpenAI “the power to potentially influence corporate strategy. With Nvidia, OpenAI is simply the client and not a part-owner,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at A.J. Bell.

OpenAI wants more GPUs

OpenAI has worked with AMD for years, providing inputs on the design of older generations of AI chips such as the MI300X.

The San Francisco-based AI company has been taking a number of steps to ensure it has the chips needed for its future needs.

Altman has floated expectations of reaching 250 gigawatts of compute in total by 2033, The Information has reported.

OpenAI’s deal last month with Nvidia includes the deployment of one gigawatt of the chip giant’s next-generation Vera Rubin processors in late 2026.

OpenAI is also in the process of developing its own silicon for AI use and has partnered with Broadcom, Reuters reported last year.

The startup and its main backer, Microsoft, announced last month that they had signed a non-binding agreement to restructure OpenAI into a for-profit entity.

A person familiar with the matter said the deal with AMD does not change any of OpenAI’s ongoing compute plans, including that effort or its partnership with Microsoft.

AD Ports Group has signed a land sale agreement with Mira Developments to develop one of the largest mixed-use communities in the Al Mamoura district of Abu Dhabi.

The land, part of the Group’s 16 square-kilometre Town Centre Area, is strategically situated along the Dubai–Abu Dhabi highway.

Valued at Dhs2.47bn, the agreement covers a fully integrated community set to be constructed over the next decade.

Construction is scheduled to begin within 12 months, with completion expected within 10 years from the agreement’s effective date of September 29, 2025.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamsi, MD and group CEO of AD Ports Group, said: “This landmark agreement with Mira Developments reflects the group’s commitment to advancing the development of its land portfolio and attracting new investment.

“Together with Mira Developments, we are shaping a high-quality, liveable community that supports economic diversification and delivers lasting economic and social value for Abu Dhabi.”

AD Ports Group-Mira Developments to build a vibrant lifestyle hub

The project will include one of the region’s largest shopping malls, a business complex, hotels, world-class golf courses, and educational institutions including schools and universities, creating a vibrant residential and lifestyle hub in Al Mamoura.

Timur Mamaikhanov, co-founder and CEO of Mira Developments, added: “We are committed to developing a landmark mixed-use community that will set new standards for quality and lifestyle in Abu Dhabi.”

The deal strengthens the group’s financial position and unlocks value from its land portfolio, enabling reinvestment into infrastructure, logistics, and trade facilitation projects.

Majid Al Futtaim Holding has partnered with Diriyah Company to launch a state-of-the-art VOX Cinemas multiplex and seven premier lifestyle retail brands at Diriyah Square, marking the company’s first lifestyle and entertainment presence in the high-profile precinct.

The agreement will introduce flagship stores for lululemon, Crate & Barrel, CB2, AllSaints, Shiseido, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister, collectively covering 5,534.48 square metres.

VOX Cinemas will anchor the entertainment offering with 7,632.93 square metres, bringing the total gross leasable area to 13,167.41 square metres.

The project includes the first standalone Shiseido store in Saudi Arabia.

Diriyah Square: A key lifestyle and retail district

Diriyah Square, designed as a pedestrian-focused lifestyle and retail district, is part of the broader Diriyah development, which is forecast to contribute $18.6bn to the kngdom’s GDP, generate nearly 180,000 jobs, and house around 100,000 residents once completed.

Jerry Inzerillo, group CEO of Diriyah Company, said: “Their decision to bring this exceptional portfolio of brands, including three flagship stores, is a testament to the confidence the retail community has in our vision.”

Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Holding, added: “Our partnership with Diriyah reflects our commitment to enriching everyday life through exceptional retail and entertainment experiences, while supporting the kingdom’s Vision 2030. We are confident in shaping Diriyah Square into a vibrant destination that blends modern retail with the rich traditions of the kingdom.”

The development follows a $600m contract awarded to Salini Saudi Arabia for construction of Diriyah Square, which will sit above one of the world’s largest underground car parks, accommodating over 10,500 vehicles.