Abu Dhabi Global Market is rolling out a new digital lab to promote co-operation between large financial institutions and FinTech companies within a controlled platform supervised by regulators.
The lab “provides a secure and trusted digital environment where FinTechs can create and test solutions with financial institutions to address real world problems”, Abu Dhabi Global Market chairman Ahmed Al Sayegh said.
“The digital lab will enable rapid prototyping and adoptions of digital solutions that can help businesses to overcome their pain points or tap new market opportunities to provide a secure platform that promotes collaboration,” Mr Al Sayegh said in his opening address to this year's FinTech Abu Dhabi event, which is being held online as a result of Covid-19.
The lab has been developed in collaboration with the Central Bank of the UAE and with major local lenders First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. It allows financial institutions to post problems that FinTechs can solve, under the joint supervision of regulators from ADGM and the central bank.
"It's really version 2.0 of our very successful regulatory sandbox. It's moving from the analogue mode to a digital format," Richard Teng, chief executive of ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, told The National.
Moving the platform online has a number of advantages, Mr Teng added. It "brings about faster adoption" of technologies, and it throws open the challenge of solving problems to a much wider global network of FinTechs.
"It enlarges the marketplace," he said. "In the past, financial institutions relied a lot on in-house solutions to bring about new technology, new production of services, and they realised that is an extremely slow process. In a Covid environment, where remote becomes the norm ... the only way for delivery and for customer onboarding will be in the digital format," he said.
The digital lab also "creates a very exciting marketplace where VCs [venture capitalists] can go in and have a look at new, exciting opportunities they can invest in", Mr Teng added.
ADGM will soon be issuing draft proposals and seeking industry feedback on a new framework to regulate FinTech companies that want to work with financial institutions in areas such as open banking and open finance, Mr Al Sayegh said.
Despite the challenging situation as a result of the pandemic this year, the number of tech start-ups at ADGM grew by 80 per cent to 291 and venture capital activity tripled from the prior year, Mr Al Sayegh said.
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Scoreline
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')
Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
