The Central Bank of the UAE has launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Implementation Strategy in collaboration with R3 , G42 Cloud and Clifford Chance. For Phase 1, R3 and G42 Cloud have been selected as the technology and infrastructure providers of the initiative respectively, while Clifford Chance will provide critical legal oversight for the strategy.

The strategy, which represents one of nine initiatives in the CBUAE’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme, sets out a roadmap for applying CBDC across a range of domestic and cross-border use-cases in the region. The first phase of the strategy, which is expected to take place over the next 12 to 15 months, comprises three primary pillars. These include initiating real-value cross-border CBDC transactions for international trade settlement, proof-of-concept work for bilateral CBDC bridges with India, and finally, proof-of-concept work for domestic CBDC issuance covering wholesale and retail usage.

As part of the CBUAE’s digital transformation programme, the implementation of the CBDC strategy will aim to address the pain points of cross-border payments, enhance financial inclusion, and further strengthen the UAE's payment infrastructure. The technological support of R3 will enable CBUAE to ensure the readiness of the UAE for the potential future tokenisation of financial and non-financial activities, in addition to the digitalisation of other financial services. R3’s Corda, a permissioned distributed application platform, is specifically designed for institutions operating in highly regulated environments, making it a suitable foundational technology for central banks to issue and distribute CBDCs.

Its interoperability and asset fluidity means that central banks can move digital currencies openly and freely across network boundaries, using well-defined trusted exchange protocols that meet regulatory demands for privacy and security. R3’s selection as the technology provider for Phase 1 of the CBUAE’s CBDC strategy adds to the growing number of digital currency initiatives being built on Corda. As the infrastructure provider for the CBUAE's CBDC Implementation Strategy, G42 Cloud will play a critical role in the deployment and adoption of the CBDC system.

About the companies R3 is a provider of enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) and services that enable the secure exchange of value in regulated industries where trust is critical. Distributed solutions developed on their platform Corda harness the ‘Power of 3’ (as the company calls it)—R3’s distributed trust technology, connected networks and regulated markets expertise—to drive transformation in digital finance. As one of the first permissioned distributed ledger application platforms, R3’s Corda helps regulated institutions to realize the full potential of direct digital collaboration to solve complex multi- party workflows.

G42 Cloud is a cloud provider. Since its inception in 2018, the company has focused on delivering a secure and scalable cloud platform that underpins digital transformation and sovereignty across the public sector and regulated industries. G42 Cloud’s infrastructure enables and benefits from the wider G42 group's technology ecosystem of AI enabled industry, and is designed to make organizations more intuitive, agile, and efficient to solve real-world challenges.

Clifford Chance is a pre-eminent law firms that operates across five continents. Their clients include corporates from all the commercial and industrial sectors, governments, regulators, trade bodies and not for profit organisations. .