Central Bank of the UAE’s tough new rules delayed (By IFN)

Central Bank of the UAE’s tough new rules delayed

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UAE: The Central Bank of UAE has officially announced that it is pushing the deadline for its new lending and financing limits to UAE governments and their entities for further review. In a statement, the central bank noted that the implementation of the regulations, which was supposed to take effect in September this year, as well as new rules governing liquidity scheduled to take effect on the 1st January 2013, will be delayed “until all items of the regulations are reviewed with banks.” This is the first time the central bank has officially announced a postponement of the rules, after lenders Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi indicated that they would not be able to meet the September deadline. The central bank said on the 4th April that banks cannot lend more than 100% of their capital to local governments and government-related entities as part of a plan to reduce concentration risk. Hussain Al Qemzi, CEO of Noor Islamic Bank noted in November that the timeframe for the new rules is extremely challenging, with Noor only likely to be to adhere in three-five years.