Middle East Financial Services Briefing

A round-up of key legal and regulatory developments in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia 

Overview and review of 1st half of 2016

The first half of 2016 has seen a significant amount of activity from regulators in the Middle East. A real commitment to the protection of investor's rights and the stability of financial markets in the region has been evidenced by regulatory activity including the review and revision of existing regulatory rules so as to clarify legal obligations and close off potential loopholes that authorised firms may rely on to avoid regulatory action.

The DFSA has now clarified that it requires DFSA regulated firms to have a physical presence in the DIFC, not just DIFC incorporated firms. 

In addition, there has been an increase in the number of enforcement actions, particularly by Saudi Arabia's and Kuwait's Capital Market Authorities, demonstrating a commitment towards sanctioning infringements of regulatory rules especially where there have been attempts to manipulate and mislead the general public as to the true value of a listed company's value in the market and notably restricting the activity of individuals who have breached regulations.

The regulators have sought to foster closer relationships with other regulators internally in their jurisdictions as well as other jurisdictions beyond the Middle East through entering into MOUs on the exchange of information between regulators in order to enhance their supervisory activities, particularly through encouraging transparency of a regulator's role and the activities of authorised firms between the different jurisdictions.

We summarise these trends and developments in our briefing, based on events in the first half of 2016.