Regulated.
Accountable.
Transparent.
Najem Financial operates as a licensed bank under the supervision of the UAE Central Bank, holding License #24891 issued in 1994. Our comprehensive oversight structure — encompassing Central Bank regulation and deposit protection — places us among the most rigorously supervised financial institutions. We maintain active membership in the Deposit Protection Scheme, ensuring every eligible deposit is protected up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category. The Consumer Protection Authority oversees our consumer-facing products and services, and we submit to regular examinations covering safety and soundness, consumer compliance, IT security, and community investment. Transparency is not a compliance checkbox at Najem Financial — it is a core operating principle embedded in our governance structure, our public disclosures, and our commitment to the communities we serve.
Our Regulatory Framework
Najem Financial operates within a comprehensive regulatory framework. As a licensed institution, we are subject to overlapping layers of regulatory oversight — each regulator contributing a distinct lens through which our operations, capital adequacy, consumer conduct, and community impact are evaluated. This multi-regulator model is the cornerstone of the trust our customers place in us. Every examination cycle reinforces our commitment to safety, soundness, and consumer fairness. We welcome regulatory scrutiny as an affirmation of our operating standards, and we maintain open, cooperative relationships with all of our supervising agencies. Our Chief Compliance Officer and dedicated regulatory affairs team manage ongoing examiner relations, coordinate document production for examination requests, and ensure that corrective actions — when any are required — are addressed promptly and completely. The result is an institution that customers, counterparties, and investors can rely on unconditionally.
UAE Central Bank
Member BankNajem Financial holds membership in the UAE Central Bank. This membership subjects us to the Central Bank's capital planning and stress-testing regime, including annual stress tests. Our Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio stands at 12.8%, well above the 4.5% minimum threshold and comfortably above the 7.0% fully-loaded buffer requirement under Basel III. Membership also provides access to the Central Bank's payment systems, including real-time gross settlement and automated clearing house networks, which facilitates the billions in daily transactions processed on behalf of our customers. The Central Bank evaluates our systemic importance, interconnectedness, and contributions to financial market infrastructure, and Najem Financial consistently meets or exceeds all capital and liquidity benchmarks.
Deposit Protection Scheme
Cert. #58234The Deposit Protection Scheme protects eligible deposits at Najem Financial up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category. Our Certificate Number is 58234. As part of our deposit protection relationship, we participate in regular examination schedules — examinations that assess our financial condition, management quality, asset quality, earnings performance, capital adequacy, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risk. We also contribute to the Deposit Protection Fund through risk-based premium assessments. Our resolution plan is filed annually, demonstrating how Najem Financial could be resolved in an orderly manner without systemic disruption. Our most recent premium assessment reflected the lowest tier, indicative of our strong financial standing.
Central Bank Licensing Authority
License #24891The Central Bank granted Najem Financial its banking license in 1994. As our primary prudential regulator, the Central Bank conducts comprehensive safety and soundness examinations on an annual basis, supplemented by ongoing continuous supervision. Examiners evaluate every material aspect of our operations — credit risk, operational risk, market risk, liquidity risk, compliance risk, and strategic risk. Our banking license enables us to offer consistent products and services across all jurisdictions under comprehensive regulatory standards. Our most recent examination resulted in a composite rating of 2 (Strong), reflecting the assessment that we are fundamentally sound and that risks are being managed in a safe and sound manner.
Consumer Protection Authority
Fair Practices CompliantThe Consumer Protection Authority oversees Najem Financial's consumer financial products and services, ensuring our practices are fair, transparent, and free from deceptive, abusive, or unfair conduct. We maintain a rigorous fair practices compliance program, which includes product review processes, advertising review, mystery shopping programs, and periodic consumer impact assessments. All consumer complaints submitted through official channels receive a response from Najem Financial within 15 business days — we maintain a 100% response rate. Our most recent consumer compliance examination resulted in a Satisfactory rating. We actively monitor regulatory bulletins and industry guidance to proactively identify emerging compliance risks and update our practices before regulatory action becomes necessary.
Capital & Liquidity Requirements
Basel III/IV Framework Compliance — as of Q4 2025
Capital Ratios vs. Regulatory Minimums
Percent (%) — Najem Financial vs. Required Minimums (Basel III)
Capital Adequacy Under Basel III
Najem Financial's capital position reflects our commitment to maintaining a fortress balance sheet. Under the Basel III framework — adopted by U.S. regulators through the revised capital rules — we are required to hold sufficient high-quality capital to absorb losses during periods of financial stress without disrupting operations or requiring government support.
Our Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.8% is nearly three times the regulatory minimum of 4.5%, providing a substantial buffer against unexpected credit losses, market dislocations, or operational events. Our Tier 1 Capital ratio of 13.9% and Total Capital ratio of 15.2% both exceed their respective regulatory floors by wide margins. Our Leverage Ratio of 8.4% — which measures capital against total average assets without risk-weighting — is more than twice the 4.0% minimum, underscoring the robustness of our capital position on an unweighted basis.
Strong capital ratios translate directly into security for depositors: a well-capitalized bank has the financial resilience to weather economic cycles, protect insured deposits, and continue lending to customers and communities even in adverse conditions. Najem Financial's capital planning process incorporates forward-looking stress scenarios, and our annual DFAST results — submitted to the Federal Reserve — confirm our ability to maintain minimum capital levels even under severely adverse macroeconomic conditions.
Key Regulations We Follow
Compliance matrix — last updated March 2026
| Regulation | Description | Applicable Area | Status | Last Audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) | AML monitoring and recordkeeping requirements | All deposits & transactions | Active | Jan 2026 |
| USA PATRIOT Act | Customer identification program (CIP) | Onboarding | Active | Jan 2026 |
| Dodd-Frank Act | Consumer protection and systemic risk management | All operations | Active | Mar 2025 |
| Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) | Community lending and investment obligations | Lending | Outstanding Rating | Dec 2025 |
| Equal Credit Opportunity Act | Fair lending — prohibition on discriminatory credit decisions | Lending | Active | Nov 2025 |
| Fair Housing Act | Mortgage fairness and anti-redlining requirements | Real estate lending | Active | Nov 2025 |
| Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act | Customer financial privacy protection | Data / Privacy | Active | Sep 2025 |
| Sarbanes-Oxley Act | Internal controls over financial reporting | Public reporting | Active | Dec 2025 |
| Truth in Lending Act (TILA) | Consumer credit disclosure requirements | Consumer credit | Active | Oct 2025 |
| Electronic Fund Transfer Act | Consumer protections for digital transactions | Payments | Active | Aug 2025 |
Examination Results
Most recent regulatory examination outcomes
Our Examination Track Record
Najem Financial has maintained strong or satisfactory examination ratings across all regulatory agencies for seven consecutive examination cycles. Our examination process involves deep collaboration between our regulatory affairs team, internal audit function, and line-of-business management to ensure that examiners have complete, timely access to requested documentation and data.
Our CRA Outstanding rating — achieved for three consecutive examination terms — reflects our genuine commitment to serving the credit needs of our entire assessment area, including low- and moderate-income communities. We invest more than $340 million annually in qualifying CRA activities, including affordable housing finance, small business lending, and community development financial institution (CDFI) partnerships.
When examination findings are identified — as they are at any institution operating at our scale and complexity — we address them through our Matter Requiring Attention (MRA) tracking process, with senior management accountability for timely remediation and board-level oversight of all open examination findings.
Regulatory Filings & Public Disclosures
Key regulatory documents available to the public
Questions About Our Regulatory Standing?
Our regulatory affairs team is available to address questions from counterparties, investors, researchers, and customers about our regulatory status, examination history, or public filings.