The UAE’s Central Bank has announced it will establish a FinTech Office. The Office will help draft regulations for this sector and encourage it to grow. It will also examine assets like cryptocurrencies. It will not compete with other initiatives like the sandboxes in the financial free zones.

The Governor of the Central Bank made the announcement at the Middle East Banking Forum in Abu Dhabi. He added ‘the aim of the office will be to position the Central Bank as the coordinating authority, as an author of prudential and market conduct regulatory requirements and as an enabler and facilitator of fintech activities in the UAE. It will ensure financial innovation continues in the banking sector with the support and facilitation of the national authorities’.