UAE Commercial Bank International partners with Zumo digital assets as a service platform

UAE Commercial Bank International partners with Zumo digital assets as a service platform

UAE Commercial Bank International (CBI), a leading UAE bank, has partnered with Zumo, an award-winning digital-assets-as-a-service platform registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to enable both parties to explore the tracking of digital asset sustainability.

As per the press release this marks a significant step in CBI’s commitment to furthering innovation and offering cutting-edge digital solutions to its clients.

The UAE’s digital assets market is projected to generate $453.20 million in revenue by 2024, reaching an estimated $616.80 million by 2028.

The Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) recently launched a dedicated accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to manage client money and regulatory prudential requirements, in compliance with the latest regulations issued by the Central Bank of UAE and the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The first VASP to be onboarded is Laser Digital a crypto broker and investment service provider, a subsidiary of Japanese Nomura.

Giovanni Everduin, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer of Commercial Bank International, said, “Our partnership with Zumo marks a significant milestone in CBI’s ongoing commitment to innovation and sustainability. Aligned with our vision of partnership driven innovation, we look forward to collaborating with Zumo to become one of the first banks in the world to provide carbon footprint insights with carbon offsetting for digital assets. This revolutionary capability will ensure that, as digital assets become further embedded within the financial ecosystem, customers and institutions have the required tools and data to ensure their sustainability goals are tracked and achieved.”

Clark Povey, Chief Operating Officer of Zumo, added, “We’re delighted to announce our strategic partnership with Commercial Bank International, one of the UAE’s most innovative banks, headquartered in Dubai. Our collaboration with CBI will see Zumo’s pioneering digital assets and blockchain technology complement CBI’s financial expertise and innovative approach to drive sustainability. Zumo solves the biggest challenges in digital assets for financial institutions by providing business-critical technologies to navigate the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape, and with Zumo’s technology and leadership in sustainability of digital assets, the exciting journey ahead is just beginning.”

Zumo provides the critical infrastructure required by financial institutions to implement sustainable digital asset solutions.

As an early signatory of the Crypto Climate Accord, a signatory of the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration and a key contributor to industry guidelines for the decarbonization of digital assets, Zumo has firmly established itself as a leader in advancing sustainability within the digital asset sector. By aligning Zumo’s technology and expertise with CBI’s innovative approach to banking services, this partnership is poised to accelerate the adoption of digital assets within the UAE’s banking ecosystem.

Prior to this, Commercial Bank International and Fuze, MENA’s digital asset infrastructure provider, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that would allow both parties to jointly explore digital assets use cases under the comprehensive regulatory frameworks of the UAE. The agreement between CBI and Fuze provided the foundations for innovative new use cases that leverage the potential of blockchain and digital assets, including investments and payments.

Digital assets platform, Zumo joins UAE sustainable Finance declaration

Digital assets platform, Zumo joins UAE sustainable Finance declaration

Zumo, a blockchain enabled digital asset as a service platform, aimed to offer sustainable finance to fintechs, banks, asset managers, has signed the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance declaration as it extends its reach further into the MENA region.

The Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration is a voluntary membership-based initiative launched by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in 2019 with support from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities and Commodities Authority.

It aims to establish a healthy sustainable finance industry in line with the UAE’s Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative, which underpins the country’s ambition to become a successful model for the new green economy. The Declaration was signed by an initial group of 25 public and private sector entities.

Zumo will now collaborate with other participants to help create a framework for fostering and integrating green and sustainable investments, and provide expertise and insights gained from the company’s pioneering work in the sustainability sphere.

Zumo was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto Sustainability Coalition, exploring how blockchain tools can be leveraged to contribute to meaningful progress towards climate action.

Building on this work, Zumo developed its Oxygen solution. The first of its kind, Oxygen uses blockchain technology and strategically sourced market instruments, including renewable energy certificates (RECs) and carbon removals, to enable financial institutions measure, mitigate, and report on the carbon footprint of their digital asset activities.

Nick Jones, Founder and CEO, Zumo, said, “The UAE is rapidly emerging as a significant crypto hub, thanks to the Emirati leadership’s proactive approach and the region’s welcoming regulatory environment. It is also working hard to become a hub for green technologies, which is something we’re very passionate about.”

He adds, “Sustainability now sits high on the world’s corporate agenda, and we’ve seen the regulator in Europe, ESMA, introduce ESG disclosures for crypto-asset providers and token issuers through its MiCA framework. As we expand into the UAE, we look forward to working with industry stakeholders to share our knowledge and help to drive a sustainable digital assets sector in the Middle East.”

Other signatories of the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration include the Central Bank of the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Deloitte and a number of the world’s leading banks, including First Abu Dhabi Bank, BNP Paribas, Citibank, HSBC, ING Bank, Macquarie and UniCredit.