UAE Businesses Gain Access to Combined On-demand CFO expertise and AML Expertise
In the fast-growing UAE/GCC market, hiring a full-time CFO and a full-time Chief Compliance Officer is a massive overhead expense for growth-stage companies and family offices. Bridging this gap in an outsourced model is a huge selling point for expanding startups and SMEs.
UAE-based CompassPoint Consulting and Dubai-headquartered compliance consultancy CGI have formed a strategic partnership to provide integrated financial, compliance, and governance services to growing businesses across the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
The collaboration brings together CompassPoint’s fractional (part-time) chief financial officer (CFO) expertise with CGI’s regulatory advisory capabilities, including anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC), and corporate governance services. The agreement aims to address a common operational gap for regional growth-stage companies, family offices, and founders, who often manage financial planning and regulatory compliance through separate, uncoordinated advisers. “Growing businesses in the UAE and GCC are operating in markets with enormous opportunity, but opportunity also brings complexity,” said Zaid Aboobaker, Founder and CEO of CompassPoint Consulting.
“By combining CompassPoint’s fractional CFO capability with CGI’s compliance expertise, we can support clients across a much broader part of their journey.” Under the partnership, firms will gain access to executive-level financial management and compliance infrastructure without the overhead costs of hiring full-time, in-house executives. “Compliance, governance, AML, and KYC are no longer issues that businesses can treat as administrative or reactive,” said Mike Foster-Dalporto, Partner and COO at CGI. “They are central to how companies protect value, maintain trust, and create the conditions for sustainable growth.” The deal forms part of CompassPoint’s broader strategy to build a network of specialist advisory partners across the Middle East. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.