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UAE’s Central Bank Sets New Standards with Open Finance Regulation

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has issued the Open Finance Regulation, a key element of its financial infrastructure transformation program. This regulation aims to ensure the integrity and efficiency of open finance services, foster innovation, enhance competitiveness, and bolster the UAE’s status as a financial technology hub.

Under this regulation, all CBUAE-supervised financial institutions must participate in the open finance framework for their products and services. Licensed financial institutions (LFIs), acting as data holders and service providers, must provide access to customer data and enable transaction initiation, subject to explicit user consent. This provision aims to align services more closely with consumer needs.

The framework allows LFIs to access and utilize consumer financial data to create personalized experiences and tailored offerings. It also enables consumers to consolidate their financial information through seamless data sharing across platforms.

Key components of the regulation include a trust framework, an application programming interface (API) hub, and common infrastructural services. These elements support cross-sectoral data sharing and transaction initiation on behalf of users. The open finance platform also includes a consumer consent model for sharing financial data with trusted third parties within an integrated business system.

H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama, governor of the CBUAE, stated that the regulation sets global standards for open finance and accelerates the adoption of digital financial services. This initiative allows licensed financial institutions to harness consumer financial data while empowering consumers to obtain the best financial solutions, driving competition and innovation. The CBUAE remains committed to developing the financial services sector in the UAE and supporting its global competitiveness.