UAE Central Bank mulls emiratisation of some banking and insurance roles

The UAE Central Bank is mulling the emiratisation of certain job roles in the banking and insurance sectors, official news agency WAM reported.

The topic was discussed during the bank’s board meeting on Monday.

Board members deliberated on a proposal for conducting a study on a job nationalisation programme and the emiratisation of “leading professions by qualified UAE citizens” in the banking and insurance sectors, the report said.

No further details were shared.

During the board meeting, the bank’s chairman Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, highlighted the plans set forth for the coming period on digital inclusiveness and ‘greening the financial system’.

The board also endorsed the criteria that govern banks’ loan exposure to the real estate sector. The new criteria, which will take effect from December 30, 2021, are aimed to “improve identification, benchmarking and oversight of real estate exposure in line with a clear-cut approach”, the report said.

A monitoring period will be applied until the end of 2022, during which banks will be under enhanced oversight to execute and consolidate their internal policies in terms of loans and management of real estate risk exposure.

Board members also approved the Central Bank’s projected budget for 2022 as well as the Retail Payment system, the Large-Value Payment systems and Card Schemes regulation.

They also approved a system to amend the licensing and monitoring of exchanges as well as a system under which banks own their shares.

“A number of decisions have been adopted in this regard to ensure enforcement of these systems in order to ensure continued economic stability and growth for institutions and individuals,” the report added.

The board also approved the National Payment System Strategy (NPSS CBUAE) phase III, which will focus on strategic initiatives related to payments, including the execution and operation of the financial market infrastructure.