Top 100 Arabs 2024

67. Khaled Mohammed Balama

Governor, Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)

Origin: UAE

Residence: UAE

Sector: Finance

2023 Rank: 73

The UAE was removed from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force in February and the central bank played a key role in bolstering the country’s compliance including imposing $68m (Dhs250m) in AML/CFT fines between January and October 2023.

Balama oversaw the signing of agreements with the Reserve Bank of India in July 2023 to settle trade in rupees as well as launch a real-time payment platform to facilitate easier cross-border money transfers.

Since 2021, the central bank has rolled out many initiatives to sustain the UAE’s monetary and financial stability, including the Central Bank Digital Currency strategy to accelerate domestic and crossborder payments and move towards a cashless society.

Tarek Sultan

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