Emcredit provides technical advice on draft Information Law

Bashar Saleh Qallab, CEO of Emcredit, said this was a sign of market progression led by the government's commitment to creating a framework that ensures the privacy and confidentiality of personal information in line with global trends.

"The launch of Emcredit has started a healthy debate on the need for a UAE credit bureau, to operate at a federal level, in line with international best practices. Given our technical expertise, Emcredit was called upon to provide its expertise to the Technical Advisory Committee.

We are confident that under the proposed federal legislation, Emcredit will continue to offer world class products and services, regardless of what legal form the company takes or who its shareholders are. We believe information is the cornerstone of a knowledge based economy, and that privacy is the right of every individual," said Qallab.

He explained that credit information is a sub-category of personal information and the proposed law will protect privacy by regulating the usage and sharing of collected information. "Currently personal information is freely collected in the market, and to date its usage and sharing is not governed. This Information Law is an important step towards protecting the privacy rights of the public."

The Information Law will be implemented by a proposed Data Privacy Commission, typically an independent supervisory authority that regulates the usage and sharing of personal information. "Although, the proposed Data Privacy Commission will regulate the credit information in the short-term, the Commission would also govern more types of personal information in the future as and when the need becomes apparent," said Qallab. The proposed federal Data Privacy Commission will govern how Emcredit collects, and disseminates information.

Explaining the functions of a credit bureau, Qallab said that by providing factual, real time credit information and historical repayment records, Emcredit provides a clearer picture of the creditworthiness of borrowers. The benefits are tangible in many markets from around the world: improved risk management in assessing and granting all types of financial and non-financial credit, better protection for consumers from over-indebtedness, and healthier expansion of credit to under serviced segments thereby promoting economic growth.

Talking about the structure of the company, Qallab explained that Emcredit's independent business model emphasises its neutral position in the management and dissemination of credit information. "A credit bureau's core function is to provide information equitably and efficiently. The credit bureau has no internal use for the data it collects; this is why data providers are willing to voluntarily provide the credit bureau with data. Emcredit simply provides a service which benefits businesses and consumers. Regulation is a matter for regulatory authorities."