UAE Banks Federation (UBF) Hosts a Joint Dinner Meeting with U.S. Treasury Department’s Deputy Secretary and Accompanying Delegation

The high-level meeting was attended by CEOs of major UAE National and International UBF member banks

Dubai, United Arab Emirates; July 2022:

UAE Banks Federation (UBF), the umbrella body representing banks operating in the UAE and the unified voice for the UAE banking sector, hosted a roundtable dinner meeting with Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury, His Excellency Wally Adeyemo, on 21 June 2022. The roundtable meeting discussed the latest financial sector developments and the wide-ranging measures undertaken by the UAE banking sector.

The roundtable meeting was organized and attended by Mr. Jamal Saleh, Director General of UAE Banks Federation, and was chaired by Mrs. Hana Al-Rostamani, Group CEO of First Abu Dhabi Bank.  Along with Mrs. Rostamani, attending the meeting were the CEOs of few prime UAE banks, including Mr. Shayne Nelson, Group CEO of Emirates-NBD; Mrs. Rola Abu Manneh, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank; Mrs. Elissar Antonios, CEO of Citi Bank UAE; Dr. Bernd Van Linder, CEO of Commercial Bank of Dubai; and Mr. Vince Cook, CEO of National Bank of Fujairah.  H.E. Deputy Adeyemo was joined by his accompanying delegation from the Department of U.S. Treasury as well as U.S. Consulate/Embassy in the UAE.

During the meeting, both parties discussed most significant developments in the banking and financial services sector in the UAE and USA. H.E. Adeyemo noted that financial institutions needed to maintain caution in managing risks and take sufficient enhanced due diligence to ensure meeting KYC (know your customer) requirements, as well as overcome threats and challenges, faced.

 “This roundtable discussion provided us an opportunity to discuss with His Excellency, Deputy Secretary Adeyemo, the measures and solutions adopted by UBF member banks to counter fraudulent activities, as well as convey to him the support and guidance provided to all member banks by the Central Bank of the UAE to maintain robust compliance processes. We are continuously working with our UAE Central Bank to solidify the effectiveness of anti-money laundering systems and reduce risks which UBF member banks face,” said Mrs. Hana Al-Rostamani.

Commending UAE’s efforts, H.E. Adeyemo thanked UBF for organizing this opportunity to bring the two groups together to exchange views.