COVER INTERVIEW
Abdulfattah Sharaf, CEO of HSBC UAE and Head of International, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited
Present in the Future Abdulfattah Sharaf Group General Manager, CEO of HSBC UAE and Head of International, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, explains how HSBC remains at the forefront of banking and financial service innovations as well as taking a leading role in bringing the changes needed to improve the lives of communities and safeguard the state of the world
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SBC is a rare example of a global bank that provides its full-service capabilities locally. Why haven’t you followed your international competitors and simply shrunk the offering?
HSBC’s universal banking model is a clear competitive advantage and bringing the full power of that model to our customers in the 64 countries and territories in which we operate is at the heart of the bank’s global strategy. Our ambition today is as clear as it was when we opened for business 75 years ago
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in Dubai: to be the preferred international bank for our clients by supporting crossborder banking flows between major trade, capital and investment corridors. And as the UAE readies to celebrate its Golden Jubilee, you can see how that strategy has supported the growth and development of the nation. Don’t forget that in 1946, we were the first and only bank operating here, but in my lifetime, the UAE has built itself into a global trade, transport and logistics hub, an international financial market, a world leader in sustainable finance, and a magnet for start-ups.
Banking and Finance news in the MEA market
That’s an amazing achievement for the nation, which has had a clear, guiding vision built around openness, connectivity, creativity and an ambition to shape the future. We believe in the UAE’s future as a true international hub, which is why we are committing billions of dollars to support the long-term plans of all our customers from governments, to multinationals, and fast-growing smaller companies, and it is why we are growing our wealth management brand in the country. The wealth arena is particularly interesting, and we have plans to make
