The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates signed a trilateral memorandum of cooperation following a meeting of the three authorities’ heads during a working visit to the UAE. The memorandum is intended to strengthen ties and expand cooperation on financial market development, financial technologies, digital financial services and Islamic banking. It is also positioned as supporting implementation of Principle 25 of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, including improving the effectiveness of cross-border supervision of banks and widening interaction in the banking sector. The release noted that ADCB’s subsidiary, JSC “ADCB Islamic Bank”, currently operates in Kazakhstan, and that ADCB ranks third by assets among 56 banks in the UAE, with S&P and Fitch ratings of A and A+ respectively and assets of USD 177.7bn as of 1 January 2025.