The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has created a new whistleblowing platform, an encrypted route via which internal and external stakeholders may confidentially express any concerns about CBUAE employees, contractors, and representatives misbehavior or policy breaches.

The whistleblower portal is part of CBUAE's efforts to encourage conformity with the CBUAE Code of Conduct and the highest governance standards. Its goal is to respond to alleged unlawful and unethical actions by taking appropriate action on a timely basis.

The website, which is accessible through the CBUAE website, allows workers and external stakeholders like financial firms, vendors, and the general public to express their concerns about misbehavior without fear of retaliation. It also enables for exchange of detailed information about a relevant issue, such as the attachment of files and documents in support of a specific claim.

The UAE Central Bank, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) (ADGM), a four-week public consultation on proposed “Guidelines for Financial Institutions Adopting Enabling Technologies” was recently started.

The consultation process establishes cross-sectoral standards for banking, insurance, asset management, and securities, and recommended procedures for financial institutions when embracing enabling technology for the creation or marketing of new products and services.

Application Programming Interfaces, Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, Biometrics, Cloud Computing, and Distributed Ledger Technology are among the technological solutions.

The goals of these Guidelines are also to encourage the safe and sound deployment of these technologies by financial firms throughout the UAE so that the risks associated with the adoption of innovative activities are managed proactively and correctly.