FERG works for better remittance practices and policies in the UAE

With an estimated 88 percent of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) 8 million people coming from other countries, The Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG) is working to answer the challenges of foreign exchange and remittance.  

FERG is made up of representatives from money exchange and remittance businesses, and is engaging with financial institutions and regulators in the UAE and around the globe to facilitate smooth and well-regulated remittance movement internationally.

The group’s discussions with regulators and financial institutions are an ongoing task, addressing member concerns while working to transfer remittances through officially sanctioned legal channels that protect consumers while still helping the UAE economy.

“A transparent and above-board exchange and remittance industry can only prosper if channels of communication are kept open,” FERG Chairman Osama Al Rahma said. “We are in regular contact with the UAE Central Bank, but also liaise with other banks that shape the regulatory frameworks of remittance destinations from the UAE.”

FERG has recently been in talks with the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Nepal Rastra Bank to discuss issues of standardization, compliance and consumer safety since there is a sizable expatriate population of those nationalities in the UAE that actively remit money home.

The group is also partnering with those institutions to combat money laundering, fraud and gray channels.

Overall, the remittance industry in the UAE sees more than $35 billion transferred annually from expatriate workers to home markets. That represents more than 6 percent of the UAE’s gross domestic product.