Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) plans to change its oversight procedures after the collapse of private equity firm Abraaj, DFSA’s CEO said in a report.
Investigations into Abraaj case will prompt the Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) independent financial regulatory agency to “strengthen [its] supervisory oversight going forward,” Arabian Business reported on Monday, citing Bryan Stirewalt as saying.
Dubai-based Abraaj was once one of the world’s top influential emerging-market investors before its collapse in 2018 as investors began investigations into money misuse of its healthcare fund.
DFSA’s risk-based approach to supervision will also be reviewed in a bid to “ensure that it properly captures some of the features of the particular case,” Stirewalt added in a report of DFSA’s plans for 2019 and 2020.
Although DFSA allowed Abraaj Capital Limited (ACL) to conduct regulated activities within DIFC, it did not regulate Abraaj Holdings, Abraaj Investment Management Limited, or Abraaj’s private equity funds because they were all registered in the Cayman Islands.
In addition, the collapse of Abraaj would also influence DFSA’s thinking on corporate governance, especially concerning the assignment of responsibilities among the senior management of firms, the CEO added in the report.
