UAE's money exchange industry faces shakeout as costs rise

Dubai

SOME money exchange firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may have to merge and others could be forced to close as they struggle with rising capital and compliance costs and some banks refuse to do business with them, the head of an industry body said.

The UAE's majority expatriate population transferred a net US$18 billion abroad in 2013, according to central bank data, much of it through the estimated 120 exchange firms in the region's main financial hub.