Under the leadership of Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, head of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), the Abu Dhabi Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee (ADBVAC) held its first meeting to discuss a strategy for blockchain and virtual assets.
The committee emphasized the importance of regulating blockchain and virtual asset operations to comply with anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) with international and local norms and regulations and create an environment that is safe, sound and transparent, which would contribute to create confidence and attract more companies to Abu Dhabi.
The committee was established to increase Abu Dhabi’s competitiveness in the blockchain and virtual assets, coordinate the efforts of involved entities, communicate with regulators and promote industry participants’ compliance with international standards and regulatory requirements, particularly AML/CFT regulations, while promoting information sharing and best practices .
The Abu Dhabi Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee (ADBVAC) has outlined its strategy to enable a safe, secure and transparent digital ecosystem #inAbuDhabiin accordance with global best practices for monetary policy. pic.twitter.com/WXnsJtfFJN
— مكتب ادوبديه المديافي (@admediaoffice) 25 August 2022
To this end, ADBVAC consists of representatives of major entities and stakeholders active in this field, including Dhaher bin Dhaher Al Mheiri, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Registration Authority, Wai Lum Kwok, senior executive director Authorization at ADGM, Mohammed Kaissi, Director of Strategic Projects at ADQ, Faisal Al Hammadi, CEO Incubation at ADQ, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, Dr Nikolas Meitanis, Advisor at Masdar CEO Office, Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth at Mubadala , Abdulla Al Shamsi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), and Dr Maryam Buti Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
Speaking at the first meeting, Al Shorafa said: “The creation of Abu Dhabi’s Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee reflects our leadership’s far-sighted vision and approach, which enabled Abu Dhabi to nurture a supportive business environment, unparalleled connectivity and infrastructure and an entrepreneurial mindset that presents investors.” with growth opportunities.”
“The committee brings together all relevant stakeholders to build a robust, credible and comprehensive regulatory and business ecosystem that addresses key risks and major governance issues, such as AML/CFT, investor protection, technology governance and custody risk, to advance blockchain and virtual assets.”
“This will allow us to capitalize on blockchain technology and virtual assets to achieve Abu Dhabi’s ambitions and the priority areas for this will be growth clusters including agritech, fintech, healthcare and biopharma, energy, tourism and ICT as we aim to promote businesses in these sectors to expand and accelerate”.
