In a recent announcement by Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory authority ( VARA ), the Department of Economy and Tourism is now offering regulated virtual assets activities in its branches. This means that Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) seeking to conduct business in Dubai’s mainland or make changes to their current commercial licenses may submit their applications for the below-mentioned activities at DET branches. The list of Regulated Virtual Assets Activities (require a license from VARA) include, VA Advisory Services,   VA Broker-Dealer Services,   VA Custody Services,   VA Exchange Services, VA Lending and Borrowing Services and   VA Management and Investment Services. In addition to VA propriety trading which requires a NOC from VARA.  Firms carrying on VA activities in Dubai [except DIFC] prior to 7 February 2023 [Legacy VASPs], must have their applications seeking regulatory oversight or relevant guidance from VARA by the final deadl...

    Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has become the first Islamic bank that went live on the UAE’s KYC (Know Your Customer) Blockchain Platform. The UAE KYC Blockchain Platform is expected to accelerate the opening of bank accounts for newly registered companies while paving the way for a less cumbersome and costly process of managing KYC data for firms already registered with the system. It will also facilitate a faster, more secure onboarding and exchange of digital customer data and documents; this will be carried out through advanced blockchain-powered distributed technologies. The initiative was launched in February 2020 by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) with the partnership of four founding member banks; three listed lenders which are Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), in addition to HSBC. Norbloc Blockchain KYC solution provider implemented the KYC Blockchain platform to facilitate a faster, more sec...