NBF's journey with bullion banking commenced with gold financing in 2002, when the bank first established its relationship with a prominent European bank to supply bullion. Prior to that, the bank had been financing trade via conventional credit facilities. Starting with a small core team and a handful of customers, NBF was quickly able to make a mark as a reliable partner in the industry.

With its strategic location and proximity to major trade centers around the world, the UAE has long maintained a high ranking in the ease of doing business attracting investors and stakeholders across the supply chain and enabling them to benefit from this unique growth environment.

With this in mind, National Bank of Fujairah emerged as the partner for businesses leveraging its segmented and multi-disciplinary sectorial approach with twelve business segments namely, Business Financing, Trading and Diversified, Energy and Marine, Government and Large Corporate, Contracting, Services and Manufacturing, Financial Institutions, Government and Liability Management, Equipment Finance, Global Transaction Services, Corporate Finance and Precious Metals and Diamond.

Over the years, the UAE saw an exponential increase in demand for bullion financing in parallel with the growth in demand for precious metals. The UAE's total estimated trade volume is 80 billion USD across diamond and gold, with diamond making up around a total of USD 35 billion. With its multi-disciplinary approach and in-depth sectorial knowledge in Precious Metals and Diamond industry, NBF has been focused on addressing the financing gap in the market as the sector continued to grow and further boost economic diversification efforts.

NBF's journey with bullion banking commenced with gold financing in 2002, when the bank first established its relationship with a prominent European bank to supply bullion. Prior to that, the bank had been financing trade via conventional credit facilities. Starting with a small core team and a handful of customers, NBF was quickly able to make a mark as a reliable partner in the industry.

Building strong supply relationships with European bullion banks and refineries across the world was instrumental to the inception of NBF's bullion offerings, and to catering to the local jewellery industry. As such, the bank began providing specialised lending in the form of gold in an aim to finance the core working capital requirements of the jewellery industry. It then launched its product offerings in several categories including the gold loan, unfixed gold, gold variation margin overdraft, other working capital and hedging facilities.

Boasting a growing team, NBF's dedicated precious metals and diamond unit has been focused to providing personalised services to UAE-based clients in the jewellery and diamond industry. The bank's specialised team has also been focused on serving the jewellery and diamond industries covering major verticals namely, gold and diamond

jewellery, rough and polished diamonds. Based in Dubai's Almas Tower, in the heart of one of the world's biggest diamond trading centres, NBF's diamond financing team focuses on by providing shortterm trade finance products to established rough and polished diamond traders and manufacturers. With its vaulting facilities, both inhouse and with Transguard in Deira Gold Souk Dubai, the bank's services entail facilitating trades in gold, platinum and silver.

Testament to its leading status, the bank structured Shari'a-compliant bullion financing solution for Malabar Gold making the first-ever transaction of its kind in accordance with the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Institutions (AAOIFI) standards in the precious metals industry in the UAE.

With unmatched sector-specific knowledge, NBF is ideally positioned as the financial partner for stakeholders across the supply chain. With in-depth understanding of the industry, the NBF team can uniquely identify growth opportunities for partners both within the UAE and beyond as to help them succeed and grow their business.