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Al Masraf and Moody’s have signed a strategic agreement to strengthen risk intelligence and credit capabilities, according to a WAM report.
The partnership will integrate advanced analytics into the bank’s operations to support better credit decisions and risk oversight across its consumer, corporate and Islamic banking divisions.
Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade, as Al Masraf is formally known, was established in 1975 and began operations the following year under a decree signed by the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Central Bank of the UAE figures show the banking system’s total assets rose 17.1 percent to $1.4 trillion in 2025, with the non-performing loan ratio improving to 3.3 percent from 4.7 percent the prior year.
The Central Bank of the UAE’s Financial Stability Report 2025 also recorded an 11.7 percent increase in net profits to AED90.8 billion, underlining the sector’s robust performance.
Capital adequacy stood at 17.0 percent, well above regulatory minimums, while stress tests confirmed resilience to economic shocks.
An Alvarez & Marsal assessment of the top 10 UAE banks placed the non-performing loan ratio at 2.4 percent for 2025, down from 3.6 percent, with the cost-to-income ratio improving to 28.1 percent.
The report highlighted sustained operating income growth of 10.6 percent alongside stronger coverage ratios for bad loans.
These trends point to a sector emphasis on prudent risk management that the new agreement is positioned to reinforce.
Moody’s introduced its Maxsight platform in February 2025 as a unified tool for global risk navigation, the company said in a statement.
The platform draws on extensive datasets to track sanctions, fraud risks and other threats on a daily basis.
Keith Berry, Head of Corporates and Governments at Moody’s, said, “Today, businesses face unprecedented challenges in managing the interconnected and ever-changing risks associated with their customers, partners and suppliers. Maxsight provides organizations with essential insights to build a complete picture of who they are doing business with, mitigate risks, and seize opportunities.”
Fitch Ratings analysis from April 2026 identified real estate exposures as a primary vulnerability for UAE banks in scenarios involving regional conflicts, with corporate real estate comprising 13 percent of gross loans at the end of 2025.
The assessment singled out Al Masraf among those with more limited capital buffers under severe stress tests.
The strategic tie-up with Moody’s addresses such concerns through enhanced intelligence capabilities.
Al Masraf is owned 60 percent by the Emirates Investment Authority, 29.3 percent by the Libyan Foreign Bank and 10.7 percent by La Banque Exterieure d’Algerie, according to the bank’s corporate profile.
The lender provides a full suite of services including treasury and investment offerings as it pursues modernization across its structure.
The agreement with Moody’s forms part of this ongoing drive to update products and meet evolving client needs in the competitive UAE market.
