The Board of Directors of the Central Bank held its third meeting for the year 2020, by videoconference (on the morning of Thursday, March 26, 2020), headed by Hareb Masoud Al Darmaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The meeting was attended by Abdul Rahman Saleh Al Saleh, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mubarak Rashid Al-Mansouri, Governor, and Board Members: Younis Haji Al-Khoury, Khaled Mohammed Salem Balami and Khalid Ahmed Al-Tayer and Ali Muhammad Al-Madawi Al-Rumaithi. The meeting was also attended by a group of senior Central Bank employees.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors opened the meeting by discussing the follow-up to the implementation of the comprehensive economic support plan to contain the repercussions of the Coronavirus (COFED-19) epidemic that the Board had adopted during its meeting held via remote communication on Friday, March 13, 2020.
After deliberation and discussion among members, the Council directed to continue to follow up the implementation of the plan and take the necessary measures and procedures in this regard.
The council also discussed its agenda, which included:
Some issues submitted by the Banking Operations Department regarding:
Reuse of surplus banknotes from the re-printing order for the years (2017, 2018, 2019), from the 100 and 500 dirhams categories.
- Review the fees related to the withdrawal and payment cards (IRF & MDR) as it represents one of the important means used widely in the payments made either on points of sale at merchants or on websites that support e-commerce.
Then the council discussed a memorandum submitted by the Shari'a High Authority on the Sharia Governance Standard for Islamic Financial Institutions, where the Council adopted the standard of governance set by the Shari'a High Authority in implementation of Federal Decree No. (14) for the year 2018 and the statute of the Shari'a High Authority, whereby the Authority undertakes laying down the rules The general principles and standards for Islamic financial activities and activities, setting a general framework for Sharia governance, issuing fatwas, and eligibility and merit standards. This standard is considered to complement the bank's corporate governance system.
The Council also viewed a note submitted by the Financial Stability Department on testing the effort for the banking sector in the United Arab Emirates.
The Board reviewed the requests submitted by some banks and financial institutions operating in the state, and approved the completed requests for the conditions in accordance with the law and regulations in force and specific to each activity separately.
The Council also discussed a memorandum submitted by the Control Systems Development Department at the Banking Supervision Department regarding the "system for transferring large ownership shares", and adopted the aforementioned system and directed its publication after verification and review.
The Council also reviewed the central bank's report for the fourth quarter of 2019, which includes international economic developments, local economic developments, indicators of financial stability, bank liquidity, and the monetary totals and balance sheets of the central bank. Directed the Board of Directors to publish the report on the website of the Central Bank.
Then, the Board reviewed the report of the external auditor regarding the annual financial statements of the Central Bank as on December 31, 2019. The Board completed the discussion of the rest of the topics on its agenda and other emerging issues and taking appropriate decisions in this regard.