The Emirates News Agency said, on Friday, that the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates is studying the available options regarding the new status of the Russian “MTS” bank, which obtained a license to operate in the country last year.
The Russian bank was included in a new package of sanctions announced on Friday.
“The Central Bank is currently studying the available options regarding the status of the new bank, and it will take the appropriate decision in this regard at the time, taking into account the obligations incurred by the branch during the previous period,” the agency said.
The UAE Central Bank had granted a license to MTS Bank to open a branch in Abu Dhabi, according to the licensing procedures approved by it, after the bank met the criteria for licensing branches of foreign banks.
The agency stated that the bank contributed to supporting legitimate trade between the two countries and serving the Russian community in the UAE, under the supervision of the Central Bank.
The Central Bank of the UAE reviewed the policies for combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism for the branch, and examined the electronic systems related to it before the start of the branch’s operations in the UAE, according to the licensing requirements of the banks required to conduct business, and given the circumstances that the bank’s headquarters country is going through, the Central Bank supervised the transactions. associated with financing trade that exceeds a certain limit.
On February 8, the Financial Times newspaper quoted officials who were informed of the decision to grant a license to the Russian bank in the UAE, that the decision of the UAE Central Bank to issue the license to the Russian bank, which is not subject to sanctions (at the time), will meet the growing demand for Financial services for Russian expats.
“It’s all about the feasibility study and the number of Russians currently living in the UAE,” said one of the officials.
Many Russians left their country to escape being forced into military service after the war on Ukraine, but many of them complained about the inability to open bank accounts in the countries they went to.
