The Central Banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong held a bilateral meeting to enhance collaboration between the two financial services sectors, including cooperation on virtual asset regulations

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) held a bilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, to discuss cooperation in the financial sector.

The initiatives CBUAE and the HKMA discussed and agreed upon to strengthen cooperation cover three major financial areas. Those include financial infrastructure, financial market connectivity between the two jurisdictions and virtual asset regulations and developments.

Furthermore, the two central banks explored the possibility of their local innovation hubs collaborating on joint fintech development initiatives and sharing knowledge on the particular areas of focus.

It was decided that the organizations will form a joint working group led by the CBUAE and HKMA, with support from the relevant stakeholders of the two jurisdictions’ banking sectors, to implement the agreed initiatives.

CBUAE governor H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama said he expects the relationship with the HKMA will be ongoing and long-term. HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue agreed that the relationship will benefit both jurisdictions economically as they share “many complementary strengths and mutual interests.”

After the bilateral meeting, the two central banks’ representatives along with the senior executives from the UAE and Hong Kong banks, held a seminar on key opportunities between Hong Kong and the UAE.

In particular, they spoke about possible arrangements regarding better cross-border trade settlement, as well as financial and investment solutions and capital markets opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area).

The participants also expressed their opinions on how UAE corporates can better utilise the Hong Kong financial infrastructure platforms to access Asia and Mainland markets.

The move comes at a time when?Hong Kong Securities Regulator Starts Accepting License Applications from Crypto Exchanges, emerging as one of the new hubs for the virtual asset industry.

The United Arab Emirates has also been overt regarding its interest in crypto. Thus, UAE’s Minister said crypto would ‘play a major role for the United Arab Emirate’s global trade going forward’.