StanChart-Backed Vault22 Eyes #UAE Move, Islamic Finance Platform - Bloomberg

StanChart-Backed Vault22 Eyes UAE Move, Islamic Finance Platform - Bloomberg

Vault22, a fintech company backed by Standard Chartered Plc’s innovation unit, plans to enter the Islamic finance market with Shariah-compliant personal-finance and wealth-management offering in the United Arab Emirates.

The company will roll out Hafiq, a new platform billed as a faith-driven approach to personal finance, in the Gulf state around mid-year. It will offer a Shariah asset-screening tool powered by artificial intelligence to help users make investment decisions, a real-time calculator for charitable donations known as zakat and a range of exchange-traded funds and thematic portfolios designed to appeal to millennial and Gen Z investors.

The announcement comes as the US-Israeli war on Iran, now in its 24th day, nears a possible inflection point. The UAE reported that the Islamic Republic launched overnight drone and missile attacks into Monday, hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz expires.

Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and Next176, the venture-building arm of top African insurer by assets Old Mutual Group Ltd., created Vault22 about two years ago to tap into fast-growing markets for Islamic finance and AI-led wealth solutions in emerging and frontier markets.

The global Islamic finance industry was valued at $6 trillion in 2024, with the UAE ranking as the fourth largest country by assets, according to a study by the London Stock Exchange Group and Islamic Corp. for the Development of Private Sector.

“People need to be able to manage their risk, their finances and make long-term decisions around their wealth and savings ever more in times of uncertainty,” Stephen Ong, Vault22’s co-founder, said when asked about the impact of the Iran war on its expansion plans. “People need good wealth-management solutions and people need, we believe, these types of Islamic-first tools to help them fulfill their faith obligations.”

The company was created through the merger of 22seven, a popular South African budget aggregation and tracking platform and Autumn, a Singapore-incubated financial goals and wealth-planning app. It has set up a head office in the Dubai International Financial Centre to support plans to launch Hafiq in key Islamic finance markets in the Gulf and as well as Malaysia and Indonesia, and expand its Vault22 platform in Africa.

“The UAE offers a rapidly developing and enabling ecosystem for ventures like ours,” said Benito Mable, Vault22’s chief executive and co-founder. “Regulatory maturity and clarity is important and it’s there, and there’s also a huge linkage between the Middle East and Africa finance corridor that we sit in.”

The company, which also counts Franklin Templeton among its backers, is in talks with potential investors, including Gulf-based family offices, to support its expansion plans, the co-founders said, declining to identify them.

In Africa, the company is due to provide white-label infrastructure to two banks, allowing them to provide digital-wealth products to their clients without having to build their own systems, and is in talks over similar arrangements with others, Mable said, declining to identify them.

Vault22 is planning cryptocurrency and stablecoin offerings for its platform in South Africa, where the majority of its more than 1 million users are based. It’s also looking to service independent financial advisers in the country.

Gross banks’ assets up by 1.4% to $1.473trln at end of January 2026: CB#UAE

Gross banks’ assets up by 1.4% to $1.473trln at end of January 2026: CBUAE

Gross banks’ assets increased by 1.4% from AED 5,339.9 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 5,413.6 billion at the end of January 2026, according to a report on the Monetary & Banking Developments – January 2026 issued by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).

The report showed that the gross credit increased by 1.1% from AED 2,570.3 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 2,598.2 billion at the end of January 2026.

Total credit growth was supported mostly by growth of domestic credit (by AED 27.9 billion), that is result of increase of credit to the private sector by 0.6% (contributed with 0.4 p.p. to overall growth of 1.1%) and credit to the government sector 2.5%. Growth of domestic credit was moderated by the decline in credit extended to OFC for 5.7%, that had negative contribution (for - 0.1 p.p.) to overall domestic credit growth.

Banks’ deposits increased by 0.9%, from AED 3,307.0 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 3,336.8 billion at the end of January 2026. The increase in banks’ deposits was driven by the growth in resident deposits by 1.2% reaching AED 3,046.1 billion, while non-resident deposits declined by 2.4% reaching AED 290.7 billion, with a negative contribution (-0.2 p.p. from overall 0.9 % total growth).

Within the resident deposits: private sector deposits increased by 1.0% reaching 2,272.8 billion, GRE deposits increased by 3.5% reaching AED 306.7 billion. At the same time, government sector deposits also increased by 2.0% reaching AED 401.3 billion, while Other Financial Corporations (OFC) deposits decreased by 6.7% reaching AED 65.3 billion at the end of January 2026.

The report also showed an increase in money supply aggregate M1 by 0.9%, from AED 1,071.5 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 1,081.3 billion at the end of January 2026. The increase was supported by an increase in currency in circulation outside banks by 2.7% and in monetary deposits by 0.6%.

The money supply aggregate M2 increased by 1.3%, from AED 2,754.7 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 2,789.8 billion at the end of January 2026, due to AED 25.3 billion growth in Quasi-Monetary Deposits. The corporate sector deposits and individuals’ deposits contributed the same (by 0.5 p.p. each) to overall growth of M2, having monthly increased by 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively.

Government-Related Entities (GREs) deposits increased by 3.6% contributed to the growth by 0.4 p.p. primarily driven by the growth of their AED demand and savings deposits. All sectors, except Other Financial Corporations (OFC), contributed positively to M2 growth. The monthly decline in OFC sector deposits by 7.1% (mostly foreign currency saving deposits) moderated the growth of the overall aggregate.

Money supply aggregate M3 increased by 1.4%, from AED 3,255.4 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 3,301.5 billion at the end of January 2026. Government sector deposits recorded monthly increase by 2.2%, reaching AED 511.7 billion, contributing by 0.3 p.p, to growth of M3.

The monetary base increased by 0.6%, from AED 895.7 billion at the end of December 2025 to AED 900.8 billion at the end of January 2026. The increase was driven by the growth in: Reserve Requirements by 32.4% and currency issued by 1.7%. Banks & OFCs Current Accounts & Overnight Deposits of Banks recorded decline by 55.9% and moderated the growth of overall aggregate.

Mideast Stocks: Gulf stocks mixed amid confusion over US-Iran talks

Mideast Stocks: Gulf stocks mixed amid confusion over US-Iran talks

Gulf markets ended mixed ​on Tuesday, with Qatar extending ⁠losses while other bourses steadied as investors parsed conflicting signals on potential U.S.-Iran talks.

Sentiment was volatile ‌after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure and talked of "productive" discussions to end the U.S-Israeli ​war with Iran, but Tehran dismissed that comment as "fake news".

The U.S. will continue strikes on Iran, with the pause applying ​only to ​energy sites, Semafor reported, citing a U.S. official. Israel was not part of Washington's contacts with Tehran, the report added.

The conflict has driven sharp rises in energy prices, disrupted air travel ⁠and hit shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz route for oil and LNG exports.

Dubai's main index rose as much as 4% before closing 1.6% higher, lifted by gains in heavyweight real estate and banking stocks. Emirates NBD Bank jumped 7.3%, its second-biggest intraday gain in more than a year, while ​Emaar Properties added 4%.

In ‌Abu Dhabi, the ⁠index gained 1.1%. Abu ⁠Dhabi National Energy rose 3% and Two Point Zero Group climbed 5.1%.

The Dubai index trimmed year-to-date losses to 9.5%, ​while Abu Dhabi is down 4.7%, LSEG data shows.

Any signs of easing ‌tensions could lift equities further given solid domestic fundamentals in the ⁠UAE, said George Pavel, general manager at Naga.com Middle East.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark erased earlier declines to close 0.03% higher, supported by banking stocks. Al Rajhi Bank gained 3.3% and Saudi National Bank rose 3.1%. Saudi Aramco fell 1.5% and Saudi Arabian Mining dropped 6.8%.

Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia's western Yanbu port rose to nearly 4 million barrels per day last week, up sharply from levels before the Iran war, shipping data shows.

Qatar's index slid 1.4%, extending losses from its previous session on March 18, led by financial and energy stocks. Qatar National Bank fell 3.5% and Qatar Gas Transport (Nakilat) lost ‌5.4%. Doha is not mediating between Washington and Tehran but supports all ⁠diplomatic channels to end the war, its foreign ministry said.

Oman's index ​gained 1.9% and Bahrain's edged 0.2% higher. Boursa Kuwait slipped 0.3%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index dropped 1.4%, with Commercial International Bank COMI.CA down 4.3%.

With the war ongoing and shipments of about one-fifth of global oil and ​LNG through ‌the Strait of Hormuz still restricted, oil prices resumed their climb. Brent crude ⁠was up 3% at $102.97 a barrel by ​1225 GMT.

#Qatar has options amid Gulf’s worst financial hit | Reuters

Qatar has options amid Gulf’s worst financial hit | Reuters

Qatar is no stranger to dicey financial situations. In 2017, a full-on trade blockade by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates prompted an outflow of foreign funding from the Gulf ​state's lenders, forcing Doha to pump $40 billion into the banking sector. Now, the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity is impaired due to Iranian strikes, ‌and GDP may plunge. The banks look fragile again too. The question is what Qatar's wealth fund and central bank may have to do to ease the financial pain.

To Western investors, Qatar may just look like another rich Gulf petrostate. But Doha lacks the pipelines of Saudi and the UAE, making it entirely dependent on the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz to sell LNG. Iranian attacks on Wednesday also wiped ​out 17% of Qatar’s LNG output for up to five years, costing some $20 billion in annual revenues. Capital Economics reckons GDP could sink as much as ​13% in 2026 - the biggest hit in the region - due to the attacks, which are not yet over.

One specific pain point is ⁠the banking sector, which compared with regional peers looks particularly vulnerable to funding shocks. Collectively, Qatari banks had net external debt, opens new tab – which includes interbank loans and deposits held by foreigners – ​of $120 billion at the end of 2025, equivalent to one-third of domestic loans. According to S&P Global analysts, this makes the sector more susceptible to a scenario where foreigners pull ​cash or refrain from rolling over wholesale funding. In a stress test, where 50% of foreign interbank funding and 30% of non-resident deposits scarpered, Qatar's lenders would not have enough sellable assets to deal with the exodus, S&P reckons.

All that said, Doha could step in to help again. S&P's stress test only puts Qatari banks' possible funding shortfall, opens new tab in the mid-single-digit billions, which is a fraction of the support ​provided to the banking system in 2017. The country has other pots of liquidity, including $55 billion of foreign reserves at the end of 2025. Shares in $44 billion Qatar National ​Bank (QNBK.QA), opens new tab and $14 billion Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), opens new tab are only down 9% and 6% respectively since the end of February.

Still, there will be many other strains on the state budget if the crisis endures, ‌sapping gas-sale revenues. ⁠Even if the war stops now, Qatar may have to sell its gas at a cheaper rate to reflect the now-obvious interruption risk. Pressures like that could widen the country’s fiscal deficit beyond the 3.2% of GDP as estimated by S&P this year.

Qatar has meaningful airbags, though. Its central bank could sell some of its $18 billion in gold holdings, which have nearly doubled in value, opens new tab since last year. More importantly, the $580 billion Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund owns high-profile equity stakes in European blue chips like Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab, Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab and Barclays (BARC.L), opens new tab, ​plus holdings in prime London real estate ​like Harrods, Heathrow Airport and Canary ⁠Wharf. Depending on how much further the Gulf conflict deteriorates, the QIA may find it prudent to shore up its finances by turning some of these crown jewels into cash.