In this video, Samir Safar-Aly, Financial Regulatory & Compliance Counsel at Baker McKenzie and MENA FinTech & AI Lead, speaks to Sumsub General Counsel Tony Petrov, about the financial regulatory landscape for virtual assets and crypto across the MENA region, with a focus on the UAE. Watch the video to learn more about regulators, business,
Latest from Financial Institutions Hub
CSDDD: No escape for the financial sector?
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) exempts financial institutions from due diligence to identify, mitigate and remedy potential adverse impacts, whether human rights or environmental, in their downstream “chain of activities”. In practice, however, it will be hard to escape entirely, not least as the sector will still need to adopt and implement
Cloud based solutions for financial institutions
Financial institutions are transforming their business models and operations to compete in today’s digital world. A key aspect of this digital transformation is the transition from traditional mainframe IT services to cloud based solutions for financial institutions. Aside from compliance challenges under local laws, including over data privacy and security laws, cloud use by financial
Issues around AI adoption within financial services
In 2022, the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI), capable of human-like text that can analyze vast amounts of data and create new content, caught the public’s imagination. In fact, it has turbocharged interest in potential AI use cases while heightening concerns over the inherent risks.
The post Issues around AI adoption within financial services
Global inclusion, diversity and equity trends in the financial sector
Inclusion, diversity and equity has become globally recognized as a hot topic for employers, and the financial services industry is no exception. Fairly or unfairly considered to maintain a traditional culture with a hierarchical workplace, financial institutions and regulators have recognized that personal integrity and honesty are key for individuals in positions of trust. A
What’s on the Radar for Financial Institutions?
With the new year well and truly here, it’s appropriate that we look to see what lies ahead in the coming months. This year, for 2024, leaders from Baker McKenzie’s financial institutions group discuss what’s on the radar for financial institutions. Fintech and Digital TransformationAs a top line, all agree that the sector will continue
What does the financial sector’s exclusion from CS3D mean in practice?
The biggest ESG development in the EU this month is the political agreement reached between EU institutions on the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive or CS3D. Large companies will have to perform due diligence when the directive is implemented into national law, which is still some two years away. This will cover adverse impacts
New rules allow the creation of crypto shares – a fresh look at the German world of crypto securities
This article takes a fresh look at the German regulatory landscape for crypto securities. In November 2023, the German Parliament adopted the Act on Financing of the Future (Zukunftsfinanzierungsgesetz, “ZuFinG”), which will allow German stock corporations to issue stock “on the blockchain”. At the same time the German regulator BaFin published a new
CBDC – Central Bank Digital Currencies
What CBDCs mean for financial inclusion and private sector banks
The world’s central banks understand that the future of money is digital. As payments shift online, the use of cash declines and the fortunes of crypto assets rise and fall, central bankers realize that their ability to command the use of money in their economies
Modular Financial Services Today and Tomorrow
Modularization refers to the existence of numerous players in a decentralized value chain, each using digital technology to provide a specialized service that meets the needs of other value-chain players or end-customers. In financial services, modularization represents an alternative to the vertically integrated market structure long dominated by large banks and other institutions.
Modular financial