By: Ramy Sameh
Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The Central Bank of UAE did not receive any new merger requests, according to the bank governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori.
"We are generally working on strengthening of the banking sector through all possible means," Al Mansoori added on the sidelines of the fourth Middle East Banking Forum.
First Gulf Bank (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) announced in early July that their sahreholders voted to recommend to their shareholders the merger of both banks in what would create a lender with assets of AED 642 billion.
Local banks have a good liquidity, Al Mansoori told journalists on the sidelines of Middle East Banking Forum, adding that the government deposits started to grow.
Government deposits rose 2.7% to AED 168.4 billion in September 2016, compared to AED 173.2 billion in August 2016.
The country will not build reserves of the Chinese yuan, the governor noted.
The central bank continues its talks with banks to apply the standards of Basel III, with its trial phase likely to start in 2017 and to be launched officially in 2018.
Local banks face no challenges to apply Basel III standards, except for one or two banks, the governor said.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
