CBUAE Achieves a New Milestone in Financial Innovation through the "Aberta" Open Finance Project

Abu Dhabi, 17 June 2023 (WAM) -- The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has announced the success of the ABARTA project, an international initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) aimed at enabling secure and interoperable open finance across borders.

The project works to develop a reliable network that connects all the open finance networks of the participating regulatory authorities, supporting the UAE's efforts to enhance global financial connectivity and facilitate cross-border financial services.

The project was developed in collaboration with the Innovation Centre of the Bank for International Settlements in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom, with the participation of the Global LEI Foundation, the International Chamber of Commerce Digital Standards Initiative, and the FinTech Academy of the Hong Kong Standard Chartered University Foundation.

The project demonstrated that it is possible to connect local open finance networks through a neutral mechanism that acts as a link between different systems, without the need to make adjustments to the local regulatory frameworks adopted in each country.

The project also tested two practical use cases across five economies, demonstrating the ability of data to move across borders, accelerating customer onboarding procedures and reducing reliance on manual verifications, through the secure sharing of corporate documented data, as well as managing the trade finance stages, reflecting the ability of structured digital data to improve the efficiency and streamlining of processes, from contract issuance to final settlement.

These tests confirmed the possibility of secure cross-border data exchange, while adhering to security and regulatory requirements.

The project has also demonstrated its potential to reduce duplication, reduce compliance costs, and reduce the time required to complete the accession procedures for SMEs operating in international trade.

H.E. Khalid Mohammed Belameh, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, said that the Aberta project embodies the vision of the Central Bank of the UAE to consolidate its position among the best central banks in the world in enhancing monetary and financial stability and supporting the country's competitiveness, by developing a more cohesive, efficient and reliable global financial system.

All of the system's technical architecture design schemes, data translation and harmonization protocols, trust framework designs, reference codes, and data models developed within the Aberta project have been made available as reusable public resources, enabling stakeholders to benefit from and build on them to develop similar solutions in the future.