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Is your Financial Advisor Legal ...? |
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Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Over the years, Globaleye has seen them come and go. Financial Advisors from around the world tripping into the UAE to do business without any legal entity here whatsoever. Some have been known to work from hotel rooms, bedrooms, Freezones or operate under incorrect DED licenses. Unfortunately, our industry gets tarnished and we constantly advise our Clients to be vigilant of such operators.
It is worth checking the status of your Advisor; more importantly make sure they are regulated here. Emirates Today recently covered a story of a Financial Advisory Group that was asked to stop all its activities here – for more,
It is well known in the IFA industry that if you do not have the correct licensing here, you will be unable to secure terms of business with all the relevant financial product providers. This means that your IFA is unable to be independent since he may only have a handful of solutions to choose from – that does not help your financial planning much since we know our Clients prefer a full appraisal of all their options. Please take a moment to look at Globaleye and feel secure in working with us – we hope to hear from you soon.
Here is the article from Emirates Today ...
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has obtained a written pledge from an international financial company to stop all its activities in the UAE after it falsely claimed it was licensed by the DFSA. British-based Montpelier has submitted an enforceable undertaking order, ending its business interests in the country. This is the first time such an order has been obtained.
“Montpelier is not allowed to offer any investment advisory services in Dubai and the UAE until it becomes legal and gets a licence from either the DFSA, the Central Bank or the Ministry of Economy,” DFSA director of enforcement Niall Coburn said. The DFSA, which regulates the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), took action after receiving complaints that Montpelier had falsely claimed to be licensed or had applied for a licence by the DIFC or DFSA. It was alleged Montpelier made this claim to attract new clients. Montpelier has never applied for authorisation from either the DIFC or DFSA.
The company was served with the draft of a court application and was given the opportunity to respond or go to court. Consequently, Montpelier asked the DFSA not to file the court case and instead agreed to submit the enforce able undertaking, which was signed by two senior officers.
DFSA chief executive David Knott said: “It is important that investors are not misled about the regulatory status of financial firms and advisors. This enforceable undertaking sends a clear signal that the DFSA will take action against any party that misrepresents its regulatory status within the DIFC.” The DFSA yesterday issued a statement saying Montpelier has no office in the DIFC and that the Knowledge Village address listed on its website is a service office, with no apparent business operations.
Chris Keavey, a tax consultant for Montpelier, said the company hoped to receive a licence by the end of this month. |
