ADCB – A Universal Bank

by Robin Page, Chief Executive, TMI

I am delighted to introduce this Guide to Promoting Treasury Best Practices in the UAE, which features an excellent selection of articles from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and some of its clients. Senior personnel from the bank provide an overview of its range of activities and these are complemented with illuminating case studies. Monica Malik and Shailesh Jha, economists with ADCB, survey the current economic position of the UAE and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), demonstrating among other factors the results of the fall in the oil price early this year and tighter fiscal positions being taken by governments in the region.

Padmanabha Mishra, Head of the bank’s Institutional Clients Group, describes how ADCB has become a key participant in the ongoing debate about the future of correspondent banking, and the approach it is taking to secure clients’ cross-border business in a period characterised by a measure of risk and uncertainty. His colleague Ashish Sharma, Head of Wholesale Banking Dubai and Northern Emirates, shows how ADCB has built up a strong reputation as a universal bank for the UAE, covering a wide range of products and customer segments. A recent focus is on the growing number of multinational corporations (MNCs) headquartered outside the region, who are choosing to work with the bank in the UAE.

Isaac Thomas, Head of Transaction Banking, describes how his department, manned by over 100 staff representing 20 nationalities, supports all client segments with a sophisticated product suite, a unique customer service proposition, strong in-house talent pool and a very loyal client base. Long-term customer partnerships are also the subject of the article by Colin Fraser, Head of the Wholesale Banking Group – he refers to ADCB’s ‘clear customer mandate’, committing it to be the bank of choice for institutions and corporations headquartered in the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi, as well as foreign entities doing business in the region. The bank is also engaging in significant investment in a number of joint ventures being established onshore, and has formed a series of banking partnerships and alliances to deliver its services to many of the world’s major banks and their clients. This development, furthered by the establishment of representative offices in London and Singapore, is described by David Manson, Country Head UK.

Case studies provide some interesting viewpoints from ‘the other side of the banking counter’. Firas Wanli and Enamuddin Khan of Khidmah LLC write about an ambitious project involving their company’s treasury team and their partner bank ADCB, streamlining outgoing and incoming payments and bank account reporting. The implementation and running of a flagship e-Clearance platform based on the concept of a single window is the subject of the article by Saleem Saeed Al Romaithi from the Abu Dhabi General Administration of Customs, an organisation which in 2013 processed USD 36bn of non-oil based international trade, involving 1.2 million customs declarations and customs revenue of USD681m. Altogether the Guide represents an invaluable survey of banking and treasury trends in this vibrant region.