The Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency has added the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to its list of authorised escrow account managers, to ensure developers have a choice of accounts with which to deposit their funds, the agency said on Monday.

Originally ARRA had only authorised Ajman Bank to hold escrow accounts, but later added Dubai Islamic bank.

'We have to create alternatives for the sake of serving the sector,' Omar al Barguthi, the director general of ARRA. 'Ajman Bank is still new. They do have facilities but not the geographical spread all over the UAE.'

The emirate recently decreed that developers must open an escrow account for each project in which to deposit investors funds.

The National