At a meeting at the FSA's headquarters in London, Sir Callum McCarthy, Chairman of the FSA, and Mr David Knott, Chief Executive of the DFSA, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective authorities.
The FSA is the United Kingdom’s national financial services and markets regulator. As such it administers the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which provides for the supervision of financial services, financial products and financial markets.
“The strong business links between UK financial firms and the Dubai International Financial Centre make the FSA one of the DFSA’s most important regulatory relationships,” said Mr Knott.
''The FSA is the home regulator of many of the biggest firms authorised by the DFSA to conduct business within the DIFC. They include Barclays Bank plc, INVESCO Asset Management Limited, Lloyds Bank TSB, Mellon Global Investments Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and Morgan Stanley,'' he said.
The signing of today’s MoU has formalised arrangements for cooperation and information sharing between the two regulators. It recognises that both regulators place reliance on the quality of regulatory standards administered in the other’s jurisdiction.
“The quality of regulation in a firm’s home country is a leading consideration when the DFSA assesses applications for a branch presence in the DIFC or recognition as a remote member of the DIFX. The DFSA acknowledges the FSA as one of the world’s leading financial sector regulators and has taken account of this in assessing licence applications from UK regulated firms. This MoU will reinforce the already close working relationship between the two regulators,” said Mr Knott.
Dr Habib Al Mulla, Chairman of the DFSA, also welcomed completion of the MoU. He said: “It is pleasing to see these discussions reach a successful conclusion. The DFSA is actively building effective working relationships with other regulators, both within our own region and beyond.”
