The bridge between Basel in Brussels and Basel in the Gulf.
Almost no European-trained FRM boutique sits on both sides of the ECB vs. SAMA conversation. We do. That single fact makes Ezelman the first call for GCC Tier-1 banks navigating Basel convergence, IFRS 9 maturity, thematic reviews, and the next generation of operational resilience rules rolling out of Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Three supervisors. Three different speeds. One playbook.
GCC supervisors are not converging to Basel at the same pace, and they are not copy-pasting the ECB. We translate European scar tissue into locally-credible programme design — and we know when to import the EU template and when to throw it away.
Central Bank of the UAE
Aggressive Basel alignment. IFRS 9 already mature. New operational resilience and climate-risk expectations rolling out. Thematic supervisory reviews increasingly quantitative.
Basel III/IVIFRS 9Op resilienceSaudi Central Bank
Rapid IRB adoption and internal-models uplift driven by Vision 2030 and Saudi National Bank consolidation. Stress testing and ICAAP expectations at ECB grade. Arabic-language supervisory dialogue.
IRB rolloutICAAPStress testingQatar Central Bank
Smaller system, systemic-importance banks carrying outsized regulatory scrutiny. Capital adequacy and Pillar 2 ICAAP sophistication a focus area, plus cross-border group-wide coordination with QFC-regulated entities.
Capital adequacyPillar 2QFC coordinationWhy Tier-1 GCC banks call us first.
We know what Brussels settled.
When CBUAE or SAMA issues a consultation, 80% of its DNA is ECB/EBA. We can tell you which European settled answer is being imported and which is still open.
Partner on the ground. Not a managed team.
GCC supervisory dialogue is a senior-banker conversation, not a PMO deliverable. We staff accordingly. No offshore teams of analysts learning on your mandate.
English, French, Arabic supervisory-grade.
Board papers, ICAAP narratives, inspector replies — we deliver in the language the supervisor expects, at the register they expect. This matters more than any model.
What CRR3 means for GCC banks anchored to IFSB — and what it does not.
A European framework does not cross a border unchanged. Four questions we have answered for GCC Tier-1 boards in the last 18 months, in terms a Riyadh or Abu Dhabi supervisor will recognise.
The European IRB permission letter is not the template.
SAMA’s IRT roadmap and CBUAE’s AIRB expectations both reference Basel III Part A, but the permission gates, Pillar 2 triggers and use-test standards are not copy-paste from Frankfurt. We map the gaps for you upfront, in writing, before model-validation work starts.
CRR3’s output floor and IFSB-15 capital adequacy do not collide.
For Islamic-window and fully-Sharia institutions, IFSB-23 (capital adequacy, superseding IFSB-15) and IFSB-16 (supervisory review) remain the primary prudential lens. Where CBUAE and SAMA converge toward Basel IV, they do so without displacing IFSB. We design ICAAP and Pillar 2 narratives that are defensible under both frames in the same document.
CBUAE and SAMA thematic reviews are closer to ECB STE than to a tick-box audit.
Since 2024, CBUAE thematic reviews on climate risk, model risk and operational resilience have moved toward a quantitative, narrative-driven format — closer to the ECB Supervisory Thematic Exercise model than to a periodic audit — and that direction of travel has not reversed. The FORTRESS™ readiness discipline applies unchanged.
The GCC stress-test architecture is national, not EBA-wide.
SAMA’s top-down exercises and CBUAE’s scenario library do not mirror the EBA’s biennial cycle. Reverse stress testing, ICAAP integration, and climate-overlay calibration all need local-parametrisation work. We do not arrive with a European template to retrofit.
A fuller analysis, with a side-by-side CBUAE/SAMA/QCB Basel-IV convergence table, is live on the Regulatory Radar.
Dubai and Riyadh — direct to the founder.
GCC mandates are led in person by the founding partner from our Dubai office and Paris HQ — no leverage pyramid, no hand-offs — with a WhatsApp line answered inside business hours across both GST and CET.
Meetings on request
Typical mobilisation 48 hours. Meeting space arranged on request in DIFC or Abu Dhabi Global Market depending on your entity.
On-site for SAMA engagements
For SAMA thematic reviews and OSI-adjacent work, the partner is on-site in KAFD for the duration of the inspection window. Non-negotiable.
+971 50 638 6229
Direct to the founder. No gatekeeper. Answered inside business hours across both time zones.