Why Correspondent Banking Is Losing Ground to Stablecoins | Claire Barratt, BCB Group
Cross-border payments have run on the same model for decades: a chain of correspondent banks, each taking a fee, each adding a delay. Claire Barratt, Managing Director UAE at BCB Group and an MFTA Corporate Member, breaks down why that model is being displaced and what is replacing it. In this episode of Wall Street […]
Inside Saudi Arabia’s 73,000km Road Network: The Logistics Gateway Connecting 3 Continents
Saudi Arabia has built one of the world’s largest road networks, more than 73,000km connecting eight countries. On this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with Nasreen Alissa to unpack what that scale actually means for the kingdom’s economic trajectory. Nasreen explains how the network is becoming the backbone of Vision […]
UAE Stablecoin Volume Hits $1.8B in June: Coinbase’s Akos Erzse on What’s Next
Multiple licensed dirham-backed stablecoins. A central bank actively building open finance infrastructure. And $1.8 billion in adjusted transaction volume in June alone, up 105% year on year. MFTA has just published a new report mapping the UAE’s digital assets and stablecoin ecosystem. In this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with […]
Stablecoins Still Move Only 1% of Global Payments. Here’s Why” – Miriam Kiwan on UAE’s New Rulebook
Stablecoins still represent just 1% of global payment flows, despite explosive growth. Miriam Kiwan, advisor and former Senior Vice President and VP for Circle MEA, joins Wall Street to MENA to explain the gap. In July 2026, the Central Bank of the UAE integrated stablecoin rules directly into its Payment Token Services Regulation, treating stablecoins […]
Who Actually Decides What “Sustainable Finance” Means? | Dr. Jelena Janjusevic
Every bank in the region now calls itself sustainable. But who actually sets the definition, and can anyone verify it? In this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with Dr. Jelena Janjusevic, Deputy Global Head of the Accountancy, Economics and Finance Department at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University Dubai, and MFTA […]
Who Controls the Future of Money? Ronit Ghose on AI Agents, Banks, and Power Shifts
Who really controls money today, banks, big tech, or AI itself? In this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with Ronit Ghose, Industry Chair of the Future of Finance and AI Group at MENA Fintech Association, to unpack how AI agents are reshaping the relationship between consumers, banks, and technology platforms. […]
AI Agents Will Soon Shop, Book and Pay for You: Akshay Chopra on Agent Commerce
Coinbase, Google and Stripe have all launched protocols for AI agent commerce in 2026, a shift where AI does not just help you decide, it decides and acts on your behalf. Akshay Chopra, Payments Committee Co-Chair at the MENA Fintech Association and Managing Partner at 237 Ventures, joins Wall Street to MENA to break down […]
Inside DDSC: The UAE’s New Dirham Stablecoin | Husam Habannakeh | Wall Street to MENA
DDSC just went live as one of the UAE’s officially approved dirham backed stablecoins. In this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with Husam Habannakeh, General Manager of DDSC Stablecoin, to unpack what that actually means for consumers, corporates, and the wider financial system. Built by AHC International Holding and First […]
Ahmed Gaber (Corb): Why Data Silos, Not AI, Are Banking’s Real Problem
MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) member Ahmed Jaber, Co-Founder and CEO of Corb, sits down with Raghda Ibraheem to discuss how banks can modernise without rebuilding their core infrastructure, and why most digital transformation efforts stall before they start. In this conversation, Ahmed shares: Why Corb operates as a channel between core banking systems, lending, and […]
Inside the UAE Stablecoin Payments Playbook | Wall Street to MENA
Stablecoins moved $33 trillion globally last year, and the UAE sits at the center of that growth. In this episode of Wall Street to MENA, Raghda Ibraheem sits down with John Hallahan, Head of Business Solutions & Advisory at Fireblocks, to unpack the UAE Stablecoin Payments Playbook, published jointly by MFTA and Fireblocks as a […]