The Dubai Financial Services Authority announced yesterday, imposing a fine on Morgan Gatsby Limited of approximately $ 246,000 (about 900,000 dirhams), as part of its mission to establish principles of transparency through the application of its system of laws and legislation aimed at providing a financial environment Safe for all parties in the DIFC, and maintaining Dubai's image as one of the best financial investment destinations. In a statement yesterday, the authority confirmed that this decision came against the background of its committing several serious violations of the legislation issued by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The authority previously suspended the license granted to the same company on November 8, 2018, due to concerns it raised about not complying with the authority's legislation.

This action came on the heels of the Dubai Financial Services Authority following an investigation it conducted, to show it that the aforementioned company, which is a company licensed by the authority, committed violations of the legislation issued by it through the following practices:

Illegally promoting an unregulated foreign fund.

■ Conduct unlicensed transactions on behalf of two clients, and engage in misleading and deceptive behavior in relation to those transactions.

Non-compliance with certain restrictions imposed by the Authority in May 2018 on business and property handling.

■ The customer is not properly classified, and the required investigations are not conducted on the source of the client’s funds and the justifications for entering into those transactions.

Failure to comply with the authority's rules regarding safe custody of customer assets.

Not ensuring that the Company's Board of Directors is provided with accurate information.

The company agreed to settle the action taken by the authority at an early stage of the investigations, which enabled it to obtain a discount under the policy of early settlement of the authority, and had it not been for this deduction that resulted from the settlement, the fine imposed by the authority on the company would have reached approximately $ 352 thousand (about 1.29 million dirhams).

Brian Sterault, CEO of the Dubai Financial Services Authority, said: “Our action has been in line with our mission to monitor the performance of companies, and to ensure their commitment to legal regulations that regulate their work in accordance with our legislation that amounts to the highest international practices in place, which contribute to providing protection and security for customers. And their investments to establish Dubai on the list of the most prominent global financial capitals. And the imposition of these deterrent measures against (Morgan Gatsby Ltd.), after it became clear to us that it possesses a record of violations of the legislations of the authority, even after we notified it of the troubling transgressions ». He added, "We in the Dubai Financial Services Authority will never tolerate companies that continue to violate the authority's legislation, despite the warnings addressed to them."

The decision came against the background of the company committing several serious violations of the legislation issued by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.