Dubai, UAE – Sept. 2026 — The UAE has cemented its position as a global destination for capital and has shown it can offer a safe and attractive investment environment over both the short and long term, the chief executive of the Capital Market Authority said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the first day of the 2026 annual conference of the Union of Arab Securities Authorities in Abu Dhabi, Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi said the country’s strength rests on the resilience of its economy, the sophistication of its legislative and regulatory framework, and its ability to adapt to changing conditions.
Al Awadhi was addressing a panel titled “From Resilience to Competitiveness: How the UAE Builds Markets Investors Trust”. He said the country had taken a series of measures to strengthen its competitiveness while keeping its regulatory frameworks aligned with global standards.
Investors better at pricing risk
Global capital has become better at identifying and pricing risk, Al Awadhi said, noting that companies and financial institutions routinely stress-test the main risks they could face.
He said meetings over recent months with asset managers, banks and financial institutions in Hong Kong, India and other global markets had revealed a shift in how investors view geopolitical risk in the region. Investors now understand the nature of these risks and how to factor them into investment decisions, he said, whereas previously they were treated as a general item on paper, without a clear sense of how they would affect an investment.
The region saw healthy capital inflows last month, with investors becoming more selective, he added. He said the diversity of the UAE market, spanning sectors such as real estate and energy, gives capital a wide range of products and opportunities.
Resilience as a system
From a regulator’s perspective, market resilience does not hinge on a single factor but is an integrated system, Al Awadhi said. It includes how regulators respond to economic events and other developments, investors’ access to reliable information, continuity of trading and transparency.
Transparency is a core element, he said, along with accurate information and the market’s ability to keep trading during periods of stress.
He said recent developments in the region had been new for both the region and the country, and that the authority worked with the markets to adopt measures he described as “out of the box” to suit market needs.
“Enabling” regulator
On balancing the attraction of capital with investor protection, Al Awadhi said the authority aims to be an enabling regulator, an approach he called the future of regulatory work.
Regulatory reform is not a one-off exercise, he said, but an ongoing process that regulators must carry out regularly to keep pace with changes in the economy and markets.
The authority continually works to remove regulatory “blind spots” by leading innovation in financial services, he said, adding that legislation is drafted in ongoing consultation with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Dubai Financial Market and the industry. He said this approach responds to the rapid evolution of the sector and the emergence of non-traditional financial instruments, while the authority’s regulatory mandate extends to instruments and products traded or sold within its jurisdiction.
Close work with the industry helped develop an advanced framework for virtual assets, their classifications and service providers, allowing regulation to keep pace with innovation while protecting investors and preserving market integrity, he said. The authority issued its comprehensive virtual assets framework in April 2026. It also works closely with regulators in the financial free zones, he added.
Predictability and consultation
Regulatory predictability is a foundation of supervisory work, Al Awadhi said. When the authority undertakes regulatory roadshows in global markets, it first meets counterpart regulators, then asset managers, companies and banks, to brief the global investment community on the direction of upcoming legislation.
The same approach is applied domestically, he said, through dialogue with markets and industry on their needs and the changes required to boost competitiveness, followed by periodic consultations with stakeholders. A clearer, more predictable regulatory environment, together with flexibility and the right regulatory mindset, supports economic development, he said.
A regulator that operates in isolation from the market and does not know what is happening inside it cannot keep up with its needs, Al Awadhi said, adding that the authority has chosen to implement reforms gradually, deliberately and in consultation with the market.
International cooperation
On international cooperation, Al Awadhi stressed the importance of bilateral and multilateral relationships between regulators. Building economic bridges with major global markets, he said, can help increase capital flows and boost international listings in the UAE.
