Having clinched a host of fintech cross-border agreements with regulatory agencies across the world, Abu Dhabi Global Markets is now turning its attention to the commercial banking industry, signing an MoU with YES Bank to spur collaboration between the Middle East and India.
The pact will enable startups from the Middle East region and India to apply into YES fintech programmes and the ADGM’s Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab) and have the opportunity to expand into each other’s markets.
Established in May last year, ADGM's RegLab allows fintech firms to develop, test and launch their products and services in a controlled environment for two years before coming under full regulatory scrutiny.
Rana Kapoor, YES Bank CEO, says “Abu Dhabi has emerged as a prominent regional financial hub and like India has prioritised financial technology as a key enabler of competitive advantage. Our partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Markets will act as a springboard to create a borderless ecosystem for technology and talent, bringing in fintech solutions from the GCC to India while providing GCC market access for Indian fintechs. India can also benchmark the Regulatory Lab set up by ADGM, in its efforts to further scale up the Indian fintech ecosystem.”
YES Bank operates its own in-house fintech accelerator, YES FinTech, which aims to assist fintech start-ups with product-market-fit guidance, wide access to a global audience and accelerated joint go to-market within 15 weeks. The Indian bank has already sealed agreements with a wide-ranging collective of startup hubs in overseas markets, expanding its network to the US, UK, Europe, S.E Asia, Bahrain and Israel among others.
ADGM, likewise, has been globe-trotting in its attempts to prise open access to a host of international markets, including Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UAE.
Of the India link up, Richard Teng, chief executive officer, FSRA of ADGM says: "Already, we have seen great interest among Indian innovators participating in our RegLab. Through this partnership with YES Bank, we look forward to building on our strengths to enhance the connectivity between the two fintech ecosystems in a concrete fashion.”
Elsewhere on the global fintech scene, Brussels-based accelerator B-Hive has opened an office in New York, to connect with the local community off financial services firms and startups. The NY platform, developed in collaboration with BNY Mellon, follows similar successful endeavours to build bridges with London and Tel Aviv.