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AI, Blockchain in risk management: Siraj Finance's strategy for resilience
Yasser Kunhi, Chief Risk Officer at Siraj Finance PJSC, shares a forward-looking perspective on risk management and provides key insights into the fast-changing landscape of financial technologies and emerging threats
- PUBLISHED: Fri 29 Aug 2025, 8:00 AM
Siraj Finance PJSC positions itself as a leader in sustainable growth, digital innovation, and customer-centric risk practices through a kaizen approach. Focusing on resilience, Yasser Kunhi, Chief Risk Officer, highlights AI, blockchain, and tokenisation in the company’s Digital Asset Management Strategy. This approach strengthens Siraj Finance’s offerings and reinforces customer trust, operational resilience, and compliance with Central Bank of the UAE standards.
Siraj Finance PJSC has a centralised risk framework guided by the board and BRCC. How do you ensure that this governance structure effectively translates into proactive risk management across all departments?
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Under the purview of the Board and Risk Council, a top-down approach drives the Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF), ensuring structural monitoring and alignment with strategic initiatives. This resonates with the risk statement and the pre-defined risk appetite and tolerance levels. Oversight extends across all departments, with ERMF consistently enforced, reviewed, and enhanced in line with regulatory shifts, market dynamics, and internal assessments. The in-house system proactively profiles and monitors risks, enabling timely escalation.
Siraj Finance PJSC risk management fosters holistic, data-driven discipline, integrating resilience and customer trust into daily operations.
With evolving financial technologies and cyber threats, how does your team identify and mitigate emerging risks without stifling innovation?
Our approach embeds risk controls into the innovative lifecycle, enabling safe experimentation without stifling growth. Data Science and Analytics ensure secure handling of data through streamlined methods. The innovation roadmap balances agility with security, decentralising storage and applying tokenisation where appropriate to safeguard information. Dedicated project leads, under Risk Committee oversight, ensure alignment with risk parameters and regulatory requirements.
Proactive measures include APIs, system upgrades, and secure data-sharing frameworks, while continuous monitoring and threat intelligence mitigate cyber risks. AI, blockchain, and tokenisation as part of the Digital Asset Management Strategy, enhance offerings, reinforcing customer trust, resilience, and compliance with Central Bank of the UAE regulations.
How do you integrate Shariah compliance into the overall ERMF?
Shariah compliance is a cornerstone of our enterprise risk strategy and is embedded as a dedicated risk category within the ERMF, managed with the same rigor as credit, market, and operational risks. Shariah principles are integrated from product inception, with every product reviewed by the Internal Shariah Supervisory Department and ratified by the committee, alongside the Risk Department, to ensure strict adherence to Islamic principles. Regular audits, training, and monitoring sustain compliance throughout the lifecycle. This structured yet flexible approach minimises non-compliance risk, reinforces Higher Sharia Authority adherence, safeguards reputation, and preserves customer trust and financial stability.
You have collaborated with law enforcement and regulatory bodies across Mena. How do these partnerships influence your risk mitigation strategies and help anticipate regulatory changes?
Over the next 3–5 years, Siraj Finance PJSC sees three critical risk areas: customer expectations, financial resilience, and data protection. Customers today expect more than just products, they value trust, transparency, and long-term commitment. We address this by refining segmentation across SMEs, corporates, and retail clients.
To inculcate best practices and a strong risk appetite, we embed risk controls across all functions while enabling growth through a Risk-Based Approach aligned with the National Risk Assessment. We strengthen capital and liquidity ratios to reduce NPLs and reinforce resilience. Guided by visionary leadership, Siraj Finance PJSC positions itself for sustainable growth, digital innovation, and customer self-awareness in risk practices.
Looking ahead, which areas of risk management do you see as most critical for the next 3–5 years, and how is Siraj Finance PJSC preparing to address them while maintaining growth and customer trust?
The experience gained from collaborating with law enforcement and regulatory bodies across Mena has reshaped Siraj Finance PJSC risk mitigation strategies. Central Bank of the UAE regulations are well-defined, yet practical implementation varies across customers and third-party agents due to cultural sensitivity and evolving market risks.
Our partnerships provide early visibility into regulatory developments, enabling proactive adjustments. Overlapping activities between finance companies and banks can blur risk boundaries, requiring recalibration of risk appetite and tolerance levels. By enhancing sector-specific risk management, we support the UAE’s digital and diversification goals, strengthen financial inclusion, and reinforce customer confidence and long-term operational resilience.