Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates announced the success of the Aperta project, an international initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements. Aiming to enable secure and interoperable open finance across borders.
The project works to develop a reliable network linking all open financing networks of participating regulatory authorities. In support of the UAE’s efforts to enhance global financial connectivity and facilitate cross-border financial services.
The project was developed in collaboration with the Innovation Centre of the Bank for International Settlements in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the Central Bank of Brazil. The UK Financial Conduct Authority, along with the participation of the Global Foundation for Legal Identifiers. The International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative and the University of Hong Kong Standard Chartered Foundation’s FinTech Academy.
Cross-border data portability
The project demonstrated the possibility of linking local open finance networks through a neutral mechanism that acts as a link between different systems. Without the need to make amendments to the local regulatory frameworks adopted in each country.
The project also tested two practical use cases across five economies, demonstrating the portability of data across borders. This contributes to accelerating customer joining procedures and reducing reliance on manual verification processes. Through the secure sharing of documented corporate data, in addition to managing the stages of trade finance, reflecting the ability of structured digital data to improve the efficiency and simplification of operations. From contract issuance to final settlement.
These tests confirmed the possibility of exchanging data across borders in a secure manner, while adhering to security and regulatory supervision requirements.
reusability
The project also demonstrated its ability to reduce duplication of procedures and reduce compliance costs. Reducing the time required to complete the accession procedures for small and medium enterprises operating in international trade.
All system technical architecture design diagrams, data translation and harmonization protocols, trust framework designs, and reference code were made available. The data models developed within the Aperta project are reusable public resources. This enables relevant authorities to benefit from it and build on it to develop similar solutions in the future.
