UAE Central Bank Chooses CBDC Technology And Legal Partners

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has chosen Clifford Chance, R3, and G42 Cloud to help it put its CBDC Strategy into action.

The first part of the strategy, which should happen in the next 12 to 15 months, is based on three main pillars. These include starting real-value cross-border CBDC transactions for international trade settlement, proof-of-concept work for bilateral CBDC bridges with India, and proof-of-concept work for domestic CBDC issuance covering wholesale and retail use.

For Phase 1 of the project, the technology and infrastructure will be provided by R3 and G42 Cloud, and Clifford Chance will be in charge of the legal side of things.

In the past few years, the UAE central bank has taken part in a number of international digital currency trials. These include Project Aber with the Saudi Central Bank in 2020, which proved that a digital currency issued by two central banks could be used to settle payments across borders, and the first real-value cross-border CBDC pilot under the mBridge Project with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the Philippines, and the Digital Currency Institute of the United States.

H.E. Khaled The head of the CBUAE, Mohamed Balama, says:

“The launch of our CBDC strategy marks a key step in the evolution of money and payments in the country. CBDC will accelerate our digitalisation journey and promote financial inclusion. We look forward to exploring the opportunities that CBDC will bring to the wider economy and society.”