James O’Brien is Head of Regulatory Development at the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. James is responsible for the design and strategic implementation of the Central Bank’s regulatory framework and has led the development of regulations in innovative areas such as digital payments.

James has 25 years financial regulatory experience across several international jurisdictions. He has extensive experience in regulatory policy design and implementation and in direct prudential supervision of the financial sector. James was closely involved in the work on restructuring the Irish financial sector post the global financial crisis and the re-design and development of the regulatory and supervisory framework there.

James has been a member of various international regulatory policy committees, including the European Central Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, the OECD and the International Credit Union Regulatory Network. He has led international expert teams on financial sector assessment missions on behalf of the European Commission.

James has also contributed to the development of financial education programmes towards the better implementation of regulation within financial institutions and the protection of consumers.