Commercial Bank of Dubai said it became the first UAE bank to introduce multi-bank payment initiation, while UAE banking assets grew 17.1% to AED 5.3 trillion ($1.44 trillion) in 2025. Emirates NBD also introduced a transition finance framework covering hard-to-abate sectors. Elsewhere, Coinbase secured approval for a tokenisation hub in Abu Dhabi and ADX opened its market data to conversational AI platforms. Egypt’s Valu raised EGP 1 billion ($20.7 million) in its first corporate bond issuance. Read more on the week’s key developments: 1. Central Bank of Kuwait tightens accounting and fraud controls for payment firms The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued new regulatory directives on 16 August covering electronic payment service providers, electronic contract service providers, electronic payment system operators and exchange companies. The accounting rules require partners’ funds with specified repayment dates to be reported separately as liabilities, while funds without repayment dates must be classified separately within equity. CBK also instructed regulated firms to establish dedicated institutional email channels for judicial requests involving electronic financial fraud, including orders to freeze or seize funds and disclose account balances. Separating repayable partner funding from permanent equity provides greater visibility over payment firms’ financial obligations. The fraud measures also establish a more direct process for executing judicial orders when suspected funds need to be frozen or traced, connecting regulated firms more closely with judicial authorities during fraud investigations. 2. Commercial Bank of Dubai launches multi-bank payment initiation Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) announced on 17 August that customers can initiate payments from eligible accounts held at other UAE banks through its mobile application. CBD said it had become the first UAE bank to introduce the service, which operates under the Central Bank of the UAE’s Open Finance framework. The launch follows CBD’s authorisation as a third-party provider and extends its external-account aggregation capability to payment execution. The service moves CBD beyond displaying accounts held elsewhere to executing transactions from them. This allows the bank to compete for customer activity without holding the underlying deposits and brings the UAE’s Open Finance framework into customer-facing use. 3. CBUAE assesses financial-system resilience after rapid banking expansion The Central Bank of the UAE published its Financial Stability Report 2025 on 17 August, reporting that banking-system assets increased 17.1% to AED 5.3 trillion ($1.44 trillion) at end-2025. The loan portfolio expanded 17.8%, driven mainly by retail and private corporate lending, while aggregate deposits grew 16.1%. The report also assessed banks’ capital, liquidity, asset quality and exposure to wider financial-system risks. The non-performing loan ratio fell from 4.7% to 3.3%, while the capital adequacy ratio stood at 17%. Although lending grew slightly faster than deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio remained moderate at 77.7% and liquidity ratios remained above regulatory requirements. These indicators suggest that the sector entered 2026 with improved asset quality and adequate capital and liquidity buffers as lending continued to grow. 4. Emirates NBD introduces dedicated transition finance framework Emirates NBD announced on 17 August a Transition Finance Framework covering decarbonisation activities across manufacturing, mining, power and energy, real estate, transportation and storage, agriculture and information technology. The framework references guidance from the International Capital Market Association and Loan Market Association and received an independent second-party opinion from DNV. Emirates NBD reported in July that it had achieved 91% of its $30 billion sustainable-finance and facilitation target for 2030. The framework allows Emirates NBD to finance emissions-reduction activities that may not qualify under conventional green-finance criteria, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors. This broadens the range of eligible projects but increases the importance of clear classification and measurable emissions reductions. The $30 billion target covers sustainable finance and facilitation more broadly, so sector-level deployment will provide a clearer measure of the framework’s contribution to transition finance. 5. QIA brings first local manager into active asset-management initiative Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) announced on 13 August an investment in the Lesha Qatar Equity Fund, making Lesha Bank the first local asset manager admitted to QIA’s Active Asset Management Initiative. Launched in 2024, the programme already includes international managers Ashmore, Fiera Capital and Franklin Templeton. The fund invests in Shariah-compliant Qatar-listed equities, while Lesha has approximately QAR 19.2 billion ($5.27 billion) in assets under management. QIA did not disclose the size of its investment. Adding Lesha extends the initiative from international managers to a domestic institution, providing a channel for developing local asset-management capacity. Whether QIA’s allocation attracts third-party institutional capital into the fund will provide a clearer measure of its contribution to Qatar’s domestic asset-management base. 6. Valu enters corporate bond market with EGP 1 billion debut issuance Egyptian fintech Valu completed its first corporate bond issuance on 17 August, raising EGP 1 billion ($20.7 million) under an approved EGP 10 billion ($207 million) programme. The transaction comprises an EGP 460 million ($9.5 million) 13-month fixed-rate tranche and an EGP 540 million ($11.2 million) 36-month floating-rate tranche. Both tranches carry an A- entity credit rating. The issuance adds corporate bonds to Valu’s existing funding channels, which include bank facilities, international development financing and securitisation. The issuance uses 10% of the approved programme. More than half was placed in the 36-month tranche, giving Valu a longer-term funding component. Further issuance would deepen this diversification as its lending operations expand. 7. GFH Bank increases first-half profit 13.3% to $76.2 million Bahrain-based GFH Bank reported on 13 August that first-half net profit attributable to shareholders increased 13.3% to $76.2 million, from $67.2 million a year earlier. Total income rose 4.4% to $309.8 million, while total assets increased 1.97% from the end of 2025 to $12.44 billion. The bank manages approximately $24 billion in assets and funds. Wealth and investment-management income increased 48.4% to $132.8 million, supported by higher management and performance fees, and accounted for about 43% of total income. Credit and financing income reached $69.9 million. The larger contribution from wealth and investment management provides a broader earnings base as GFH selectively expands its financing portfolio. 8. Qatar Post launches UPI-enabled remittance route to India A Qatar–India postal remittance service became operational on 15 August, enabling customers to send funds from Qatar Post outlets directly into UPI-enabled bank accounts in India. PosTransfer connects Qatar Post, India Post, the Universal Postal Union’s Interconnection Platform and NPCI International Payments Limited. Transfers range from QAR 10 ($2.75) to QAR 4,000 ($1,099), subject to a maximum equivalent of INR 100,000 per transaction, with a flat QAR 15 ($4.12) service charge. The service provides an alternative to established bank and exchange-house channels for an important remittance corridor. Funds are credited instantly after the recipient activates foreign inward remittances through their UPI app, while the flat fee represents a lower percentage of larger transfers. Its competitiveness will also depend on the exchange rate offered relative to existing providers. 9. Coinbase establishes tokenisation hub in Abu Dhabi Coinbase secured regulatory approval on 11 August to establish a tokenisation hub in Abu Dhabi after receiving Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). The authorisation enables Coinbase to arrange investment transactions and provide custody to facilitate the launch of tokenised securities. Coinbase said the hub will form part of its international tokenised-securities and onchain capital-markets business outside the US. The licence gives Coinbase a regulated base in ADGM to arrange transactions and provide custody for tokenised securities. Coinbase has yet to identify participating issuers, initial transactions or expected asset volumes, leaving the hub’s commercial scale unclear. 10. ADX opens market data to conversational AI platforms Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced on 13 August that it had become the first exchange in the Middle East and North Africa to make official market data accessible through ChatGPT, Claude and other compatible AI platforms. The service uses a governed Model Context Protocol server to provide access to market depth, bid-ask data, trading statistics, XBRL financial disclosures and index information, subject to users’ subscription plans. The service creates a new interface through which investors and developers can retrieve official ADX information. It may complement conventional terminals, applications and exchange feeds by making market data and corporate disclosures easier to query, although adoption and usage figures will be needed to assess its reach. What to watch Central Bank of Egypt Monetary Policy Committee meeting (27 August), Central Bank Payments Conference in Istanbul (31 August–2 September), AIM Congress in Dubai (7–9 September) TAB Middle East Weekly Brief is a regular round-up of developments driving transformation in the Middle East banking sector and what to watch. Subscribe via LinkedIn.
