ESCA tipped to be ‘wholesale UAE regulator’
From Middle East Jan 5 2012 BY: Simon Danaher
, Online News Editor
, International Adviser
The Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority (ESCA) is likely to become the “wholesale regulator” in the UAE, regulating life companies to IFAs, according to HSBC’s Daniel Rudd.
Rudd, the bank’s head of wholesale distribution for the MENA region, said it is only a matter of time before ESCA, which was created in 2000, takes charge of all aspects of financial regulation.
The regulation of finan¬cial institutions in the UAE is currently shared between the UAE Central Bank, with which most asset management companies are registered; the Insurance Authority, with which most international life companies and IFAs are registered; and the Dubai Financial Services Authority, which regulates activities in the DIFC.
It is understood that ESCA will become the main regulator of asset management activities in the UAE, and is consulting on new rules that are expected to be implemented in 2012.
Early drafts of the rules proved controversial – in particular a suggestion that life companies may be responsible for registering new funds with ESCA, rather than this duty lying with asset managers.