stc Group announced that its ICT infrastructure subsidiary, TAWAL, has signed an agreement to acquire United Group’s telecommunications tower assets. The agreement, valued at EUR 1.220 bn supports stc Group’s ambitious strategy to expand its international footprint in key markets with significant growth potential. Marking TAWAL’s first step in Europe, this move represents a major milestone in its international expansion journey and stc Group’s growth ambitions which have been active growing in the ICT adjacencies including recent investments in ICT, IoT, Cloud, Cybersecurity, Fintech and digital entertainment through its subsidiaries. Following completion of the acquisition, TAWAL will own and operate…

The Registration Authority (RA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has issued a consultation paper to explain the proposed Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations Regulations 2023, and seeking public feedback and comments on the proposed new legislative framework for foundations that facilitate Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and token issuance (DLT Foundations). This Consultation Paper is of interest to any persons operating or planning DLT projects, persons engaging in digital asset related activities and their legal advisors, as well as DLT industry participants, associations, and stakeholders. The RA’s key proposals for the Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations Regulations cover: the structure of the DLT Foundations;…

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Mastercard that aims to drive digital transformation through partnerships with innovative Fintech companies. The partnership between DIFC and Mastercard will provide FinTech start-ups and established companies with access to Mastercard’s network and expertise, as well as DIFC’s world-class financial ecosystem. The collaboration will focus on creating new payment solutions and digital services, as well as enhancing existing ones. “At Mastercard, we are committed to driving innovation through collaboration between different players in the financial ecosystem. The collaboration between FinTech companies and established players would enable us to drive…

Applications are now open in UAE for the 2023 edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation competition that sees startups pitch their innovative solutions to solve tomorrow’s payment and commerce challenges. In addition to monetary prizes, VEI winners gain access and exposure to Visa’s vast networks of partners in the banking, merchant, VC, and government sectors. The winners also benefit from receiving recognition from one of the world’s most trusted and valuable brands. The Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) regional finals will be livestreamed on July 27. The startup that wins at…

Dubai Land Department (DLD), through the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), issued a circular confirming the implementation of the new electronic service, Madmoun. Accessible through the Trakheesi System, this service is represented by a quick response code (QR Code) issued for any real estate advertisement permit, as part of DLD’s ongoing efforts to modernize and develop real estate governance procedures and enhance investor confidence. Effective from 24 April, all real estate companies are expected to feature the QR code on their print and audiovisual advertisements. The code enables customers to quickly and easily verify the advertisement’s authenticity and validity, ensuring…

ADCB and its Shari’ah compliant digital banking subsidiary Al Hilal Bank have announced an innovative new partnership with Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) to bring digital UK banking to UAE nationals and residents through Nomo. Customers in the UAE can now open UK-based multi-currency current and savings accounts, as well as apply for UK home financing, from their smartphones using the newly launched ADCB-Nomo and Al Hilal-Nomo banking apps. This unique proposition, which gives UAE consumers a quick and simple way to bank in the UK from the UAE, demonstrates ADCB Group’s agility and commitment to consistently…

Fintech has grown steadily in the Middle East over the past few years, owing to government support, fintech-friendly regulations and favorable demographics characterized by a large population of young, tech-savvy and underbanked people. A dynamic funding landscape has also been supporting the Middle East’s fintech sector, helping new and promising startups access the resources they need to grow. In H1 2022, fintech investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reached US$819 million, already almost as much as in all of 2021 and 14 times more than in 2016, data from Dealroom show. Soaring fintech funding activity showcases investors’…

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has become the first Islamic bank to go live on the UAE Know Your Customer Blockchain Platform, a national ecosystem for the exchange of verified KYC data between licensing authorities and financial institutions. Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) launched the initiative in 2020 in partnership with a group of four founding member banks: Emirates NBD (ENBD), Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), and HSBC. Today, the platform has expanded, with DIFC, RAKEZ, RAK ICC, Mashreq Bank and Wio Bank also joining the system. The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform will…

The Saudi National Bank (SNB) and Japanese credit card company JCB International has inked an agreement to enable the acceptance of the JCB Card at 306,351 POS and 3,088 ATMs across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The partnership will allow JCB cardholders visiting Saudi, whose numbers are increasing in the global markets, to carry out financial operations more conveniently. SNB accepts a wide range of international payment and credit cards, in addition to the JCB Cards, which is Japan’s only international payment brand with more than 150.5 million cards issued around the world. Ahmed Bassam Abu Khamsin, Head of Global…

The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced that taxable persons that are resident persons can claim Small Business Relief where their revenue in the relevant tax period and previous tax periods is below AED3 million for each tax period. This means that once a taxable person exceeds the AED3 million revenue threshold in any tax period, then the Small Business Relief will no longer be available. The AED3 million revenue threshold will apply to tax periods starting on or after 1st June 2023 and will only continue to apply to subsequent tax periods that end before or on…

2022 was a record-breaking year for the Turkish fintech industry, which recorded increased innovation, rising fintech investments and continued effort from the government to foster the development of the sector. Moving forward, more initiatives will be hitting the market, paving the way for greater maturing and growth in the sector, a new report by the Finance Office of Presidency of Turkey says. The Türkiye Fintech Guide, published on March 15, 2023, provides an overview of the domestic fintech landscape, sharing key regulations and requirements fintech companies must comply with and outlining the most critical considerations fintech entrepreneurs and investors must…

e& announced the signing of a binding agreement with Uber and its subsidiary Careem to acquire a majority stake in Careem’s Super App spinout. Careem’s ride-hailing business will remain fully owned by Uber and continue to be available with all other Careem services on the existing app for customers. e& is investing $400m to become a majority shareholder in Careem’s Super App alongside Uber and all three of Careem’s co-founders. The Careem Super App offers over a dozen services including food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, a digital wallet and suite of fintech services, and additional third-party services such as home…

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) licensed “Rasid Payments Company for Financial Technology” to provide payment solutions through point of sales (POS). This addition brings the total number of payment companies licensed by SAMA to 24, in addition to six companies granted in-principle approvals. Some of the services offered by Rasid Payments include electronic billing, online payments, and mobile payments SAMA remains focused on supporting and enabling the fintech sector within the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for enticing a new segment of investors and companies that could bring added value to the sector and the economy.  SAMA’s active engagement in exploiting…

Republic Crypto, a global blockchain firm that provides end-to-end white glove advisory services to accelerate the best crypto companies from seed to liquidity, has expanded to the UAE with an aim to grow its presence and offer its services across the MENA region. Obtaining a license from the DIFC in 2022, Republic Crypto is now extending its tech advisory services to the UAE market. This is the first step towards its plan to deliver its full stack of products and services with an intention to enrich and further develop the local and regional web 3 landscape. The company is also…

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Implementation Strategy in collaboration with R3, G42 Cloud and Clifford Chance. For Phase 1, R3 and G42 Cloud have been selected as the technology and infrastructure providers of the initiative respectively, while Clifford Chance will provide critical legal oversight for the strategy. The strategy, which represents one of nine initiatives in the CBUAE’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme, sets out a roadmap for applying CBDC across a range of domestic and cross-border use-cases in the region. The CBUAE’s commencement of its CBDC strategy represents a major milestone in the UAE’s…

The Central Bank of Bahrain has made amendments to its crypto-assets (CRA) module which includes expanding its scope to include digital token offerings as part of its framework. All digital tokens’ offerings that exhibit the characteristics of security will be regulated by the CBB. The central bank will examine the underlying economic purpose of the digital token, its structure, characteristics, as well as the rights attached to the digital token to determine whether a digital token qualifies as a security. The amendments also outline new requirements to enhance safeguarding clients’ assets to provide high levels of protection for investors. Furthermore,…

The Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM Bank) has implemented Temenos’ cloud-native core banking platform, going live in just six months. Temenos enabled Saudi EXIM Bank to drive operational and financial efficiency, making it faster and easier for businesses to access trade finance, promoting job creation and economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Saudi EXIM Bank worked closely with Temenos and its consultancy and implementation partners, which brought deep local market expertise. Furthermore, Temenos KSA Model Bank approach offered pre-packaged functionality and best practices, which helped the bank meet its business and regulatory requirements in a timely and…

Emirates NBD has partnered with global innovation platform Plug and Play Abu Dhabi to launch a fintech accelerator programme focused on risk management. The bank is focused on 3 challenge statements, the first being cyber risk to enhance the protection of customers’ sensitive data and prevent costly data breaches. The second challenge looks into credit risk to enable risk assessment for retail clients by leveraging data and new technologies that fit with the regulatory environment and risk appetite while developing more accurate credit risk models for better and faster lending decisions. The last problem statement would be to identify and…

The Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) has engaged G42 Cloud and enterprise blockchain firm R3 as the infrastructure and technology providers respectively for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) implementation. The regulator indicated its readiness to embark on this venture following its involvement in several successful CBDC initiatives. This includes Project Aber with the Saudi Central Bank in 2020 as well as the the first real-value cross-border CBDC pilot under the mBridge Project with the Hong Kong, Thailand, Chinese central banks and the Bank for International Settlements in 2022. The first phase of CBUAE’s CBDC Strategy is expected to complete…

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has launched its venture building programme ‘DIFC Launchpad’ to promote the growth of innovative startups and scale-ups in the region. The DIFC Launchpad programme expects to support the launch of more than 200 new ventures, with over 100 of them being scale-ups that will collectively create over 8,000 new jobs and attract over US$544 million (AED2 billion) in venture capital. The programme is supported by multinational experts specialised in new venture creation, corporate innovation and emerging technologies. They will be working closely with DIFC’s investor bases and corporate partners Mashreq, Mastercard and Commercial Bank…