Yousef Haddad

Writer,

icn.live

Yousef Haddad writes for ICN.live about global markets, cross-border payments, and digital custody and has authored market coverage for Arab News Tech, and other regional publications. Known for clarity and precision, he trained in Broadcast Journalism and Media Communication at a leading Arab University. His passion for biking is very well known inside of the company. He has a huge collection of bikes.

DFSA

DFSA advances financial competitiveness through proactive regulations, agentic AI

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has introduced a series of regulatory initiatives and technological updates to streamline procedures, expand digital asset regulation, and integrate agentic AI across its operations to bolster the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Over the past 12 months, the regulator updated its crypto token regime and revised securities regulations to limit offering rules strictly to DIFC-based issuances, reducing operational overlap while maintaining investor protection.

Updated crypto token rules came into force in January 2026, granting licensed firms greater responsibility for assessing tokens under strict risk management guidelines. The DFSA also recognised three fiat-backed stablecoins for financial services within DIFC and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

The authority launched public consultations to update the Islamic finance framework and initiated its largest review of the collective investment funds framework since 2010.

On the supervisory front, the DFSA signed an agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism to enhance information sharing while continuing enforcement actions against regulatory breaches, including misleading conduct and non-compliance with suspicious transaction reporting.

Mark Steward, Chief Executive of the DFSA, said the regulator is building on its 21-year foundation by applying a risk-based approach that offers flexibility and transparency. He noted that DIFC’s attraction rests on a framework providing regulatory certainty, reducing complexity, and aligning standards across the region.

The developments coincide with significant growth across DIFC-supervised sectors in 2025. Total assets of operating banks reached $251 billion, up 19 percent year-on-year, while capital markets recorded $30.6 billion in new listings, led by sukuk and ESG-linked instruments. DIFC now hosts 27 of the world’s 29 systemically important global banks and China’s top five banks, contributing to Dubai’s rise to seventh globally in the Global Financial Centres Index.

In line with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and DIFC Strategy 2030, the DFSA’s second annual AI survey published in November 2025 revealed that 52 percent of DIFC firms now use AI technologies—up from 33 percent in 2024—with 60 percent planning further expansion in 2026. The regulator is also advancing cybersecurity resilience by upgrading third-party technology risk management and broadening cyber threat intelligence sharing.

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The details shared in this announcement do not constitute financial, trading, or investment guidance. Readers are strongly advised to carry out independent research and seek advice from a qualified financial professional before making any investment or cryptocurrency-related decisions.

By Yousef Haddad
3 min read

GCC Economy

Iran war impact hits Kuwait and Qatar hardest as Gulf economies diverge

The Iran war impact has fallen unevenly across the Gulf, and two economies are absorbing the worst of it. Kuwait and Qatar are forecast to contract this year, while their neighbors keep growing at a slower pace. The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a regional lender based in Abu Dhabi, laid out the split in an 80-page report on Arab economies.

Why Kuwait and Qatar sit most exposed

Both countries depend almost entirely on the Strait of Hormuz to ship their hydrocarbons. The strait is the narrow sea passage that connects the Gulf to global buyers. It carries more than a fifth of the world’s traded oil. When conflict between Iran and the United States disrupted the route, Gulf oil exports from these two states had few alternatives. Oil and gas earnings make up more than two-thirds of government revenue in Kuwait and Qatar, according to their governments. That concentration left little room to cushion the blow. Unlike Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neither state can route cargoes through a pipeline that reaches the sea beyond Hormuz.

Qatar holds the world’s third largest proven gas reserves. The Strait of Hormuz closure has cut off most of its Qatar LNG exports, the shipments of liquefied natural gas that anchor its economy. Iranian missile and drone strikes on Qatari energy sites added to the damage.

How the Iran war impact splits the GCC

The wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has fared better. Saudi Arabia and the UAE run large non-oil sectors, and each operates a pipeline that carries crude around Hormuz. Those routes kept their shipments moving. Oman drew the least harm because its main export terminals sit outside the strait. Bahrain leans little on crude sales, since its oil resources are limited.

The AMF growth forecast puts numbers on the gap. For 2026, it projects Saudi Arabia to expand 3.2 percent, Oman 2.9 percent, the UAE 1.7 percent and Bahrain 1.4 percent. Kuwait is set to contract 2.9 percent and Qatar 5.9 percent.

“Qatar and Kuwait are affected by the crisis more than the other GCC countries because their non-oil economies are not very big and they are almost completely dependent on Hormuz for their hydrocarbon exports,” said Jamal Banoun, manager of the Saudi SMS economic consultancy centre.

Kuwait economy under strain

The Kuwait economy shows clear signs of pressure. Repeated Iranian strikes have hit the country. To cover the gap, it has raised borrowing from both local and foreign markets, a step that points to a worsening cash position. The Iran war impact here reaches beyond lost sales and into public finances.

A rebound projected for 2027

The same report expects the region to recover quickly next year. Its GCC growth forecast for 2027 shows Saudi Arabia at 4.2 percent, the UAE at 9.8 percent, Qatar at 5.5 percent, Kuwait at 6 percent, Oman at 3.1 percent and Bahrain at 2.9 percent. Those figures assume the disruption eases and trade routes reopen.

For now, the Iran war impact continues to divide a region often treated as one bloc. Access to open water, not oil wealth alone, is deciding which economies hold up.

By Yousef Haddad
3 min read

Regulations

EU AI content labeling rules now in force with fines up to €15 million

The European Union’s AI content labeling rules took effect on 2 August, requiring companies to mark realistic content made or altered by artificial intelligence with visible and machine-readable signals.

The measure sits inside the EU AI Act, the first broad legal framework for the technology. Its aim is to cut misinformation and give people a clear signal when a machine, not a person, produced what they see or read.

The AI content labeling rules reach across formats. Companies must tell users when they interact with an AI chatbot or view synthetic media built to look real. Providers of generative systems must embed markers so images, audio, video, and text can be detected as AI-generated content. Text published to inform the public on matters of public interest also needs a clear label.

The duty splits in two. Firms that build generative systems embed the machine-readable marks. Those that deploy the output must disclose it, above all when the content could pass for real.

How the marking works

For most formats, the mark works on two levels. A watermark sits inside the content, and signed metadata travels with it. Plain text is treated differently and does not carry the watermark. Detection tools can then flag the material as artificially generated or changed. Fines under the AI content labeling rules are now a reality.

Penalties are steep. Breaches can draw fines of up to €15 million or 3% of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher. For deepfakes, the duty is direct. Anyone using AI to create one must disclose that the content was generated or manipulated.

The AI labeling requirements apply to chatbots, virtual assistants, and any system meant to interact with people. Such systems must be built so users know they face a machine.

Exemptions and grace period

The law carves out clear exceptions. Artistic, satirical, and fictional works stay outside the mandate, as does material made by individuals for personal use. A private group-chat joke is safe. Creative work still carries a lighter disclosure, one shaped so it does not spoil the piece.

One carve-out matters for publishers. AI-written text escapes the labeling duty when a person with real editorial responsibility reviews it and stands behind it. An editor who checks and approves an AI draft can meet that bar.

Developers of existing AI systems get a four-month window to reach full compliance. New systems placed on the EU market face the 2 August date now.

AI transparency rules and public trust

To help firms apply the AI transparency rules, the European Commission published guidelines and a voluntary Code of Practice on the transparency of AI-generated content. Independent experts drew up the code with input from hundreds of stakeholders. Following it is optional. The underlying Article 50 duties are law.

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said the guidelines support the smooth application of the AI Act and help citizens recognise when they deal with AI. She tied the work to building trust and giving innovators firmer ground.

The AI content labeling rules arrive as some technology firms question the wide scope of content that needs a mark. Those same firms back the broader effort against AI-driven misinformation. A separate simplification package could push the machine-marking deadline later in the year, though the core obligations apply now.

By Yousef Haddad
3 min read

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