Under the chairmanship of Mansour bin Zayed, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank approves the establishment of a company "Nebras" And create a platform "Know your customer"

ABU DHABI, 11 December / WAM / His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the UAE, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, chaired the seventh Central Bank Board of Directors meeting for the year 2024, at Qasr Al Watan. today.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed praised the efforts and initiatives of the Central Bank in promoting stability and financial inclusion in the country, and its receipt of the Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Distinguished Government Performance 2024 in the category of the leading federal entity “more than 500 employees” and its effective role in issuing regulatory and supervisory regulations and legislation, and consolidating innovation. And accelerating digital transformation with the aim of establishing the future of the financial sector, supporting economic flexibility and achieving the country’s sustainable development goals.

The meeting was attended by the Vice-Chairmen of the Council, His Excellency Abdul Rahman Saleh Al Saleh, and His Excellency Jassim Mohammed Al Zaabi, along with His Excellency Khalid Mohammed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank, and Their Excellencies Members of the Board of Directors, Younis Haji Al Khouri, Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, Dr. Ali Mohammed Al Rumaithi, and Assistant Governor Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, and Ibrahim Al Sayed Mohammed Al Hashimi, Assistant to the Governor and Secretary General of the Board of Directors.
The Council reviewed the topics on the meeting’s agenda, the implementation processes of future projects and plans, and the progress achieved in the projects of the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program, which aim to stimulate innovation, digitize the financial sector, and support the achievement of the country’s digital economy, as the project completion rate reached 85%.
The Council approved the establishment of “Nebras Open Finance LLC”, as a subsidiary of the Central Bank, responsible for operating the central infrastructure for open finance activity, in addition to establishing the “Know Your Customer” digital platform within the requirements of Federal Decree No. 30 of 2024.
The Council approved the Central Bank’s estimated budget for the fiscal year 2025, and reviewed the Central Bank’s financial statements for the year 2024, as the size of the Central Bank’s assets is expected to increase by 22% to reach historical levels of 877 billion dirhams.
The Council also reviewed the financial statements of the banking sector for the year 2024, and the growth in the size of assets in the country from 4,075 billion dirhams to 4,462 billion dirhams, an increase of 9%. The size of the capital and reserves of national banks also increased from 472.7 billion dirhams to 505 billion dirhams, a rate of 7%.
During the meeting, the Council also reviewed the preliminary results and data on the “Anni” instant payment platform during the trial operation phase, which indicated that the number of registered users on the platform reached more than one million users, both citizens and residents of the country, supported by a wide network of participants reaching more than 50 institutions. Licensed financial services, which allows the platform to accommodate a higher transaction volume, and facilitate digital payments in the country.

“Annie” is part of the payments system in the UAE, and the value of payment transactions currently amounts to more than 20 billion dirhams per month, while the volume of daily transactions reaches more than 400,000 transactions.

The Annie platform is available in more than 80,000 stores with cashless or cardless payment solutions, with plans to expand further as more licensed financial institutions join.
As part of the initiative to empower Emirati human resources in the financial sector, launched by the Central Bank in 2022, the Council reviewed the results and indicators of Emiratisation in the financial sector for the year 2024, which indicated an increase in the Emiratisation rate to reach 121% after employing 2,227 male and female citizens, exceeding the target of 1,875 jobs. While the percentage of Emiratisation in leadership positions increased by 14% to reach 23.7%, and in vital jobs by 18% to 36.6%.
The Council approved the issuance of regulations, legislation, and policies aimed at supporting the financial and insurance sectors, with regard to the areas of licensing and legislation, as 5 legislations were issued regarding financial technology, 24 licenses were granted in the field of financial technology, and 75 license applications are under study.

Three regulations were also approved for the insurance sector: the general disclosure system for insurance companies, the system for “third-party” health insurance claims management companies, and the system for representative offices of foreign insurance companies and foreign reinsurance companies.

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