HSBC, Europe's largest lender, is joining The Abu Dhabi Global Market Digital Lab, a platform for financial institutions and FinTech firms to collaborate, test and develop solutions for the financial services sector.
New solutions will be developed in a controlled environment supervised by the ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, HSBC said in a statement on Tuesday.
“HSBC is developing and deploying some of the industry’s most advanced and innovative technology to make banking easier and more secure,” said Antoine Maurel, head of markets and securities services, CEEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) at HSBC.
“We are keen to explore and test new cost-effective solutions such as API (application programming interface) and middleware-enabled solutions that could connect our systems with FinTechs and other technology providers.”
This month, regulators of banks and financial free zones in the UAE jointly issued guidelines to help financial institutions safely adopt enabling technologies as the coronavirus pandemic hastens digitisation.
The guidelines were issued by the Central Bank of the UAE, the Securities and Commodities Authority, the Dubai Financial Services Authority of the Dubai International Financial Centre, and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market.
The guidelines set out best practices for financial institutions when adopting enabling technologies such as application programming interfaces, which allow FinTechs to work with banks’ software; Big Data analytics; artificial intelligence; biometrics; cloud computing and distributed ledger technology.
ADGM aims to grow its digital lab community to 300 entities by late 2022, from 90 at present, according to its chairman Ahmed Al Zaabi.
HSBC reported a 76 per cent surge in its third-quarter profit after the lender released provisions that were earmarked for bad loans that did not materialise.
Pre-tax profit for the quarter to the end of September rose to $5.4 billion, from $3.1bn in the year-earlier period, the bank said in October.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
-
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
