The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has rolled out a number of initiatives to provide assistance and regulatory relief to firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
They are designed to “allow the DIFC community to focus on protecting the wellbeing of their staff and supporting their clients during this time of stress and uncertainty”, the authority said.
“We are committed to fulfilling our regulatory objectives as the independent financial services regulator of the DIFC, but we are also focusing our attention on the wellbeing of the Centre’s wider community and ecosystem,” added DFSA chief executive Bryan Stirewalt.
“The DFSA stands ready to consider any reasonable requests for regulatory relief.”
What’s on offer?
There are three reliefs available to new firms entering the DIFC.
These include more time to complete the application and authorisation processes, a 50% reduction in application fees and a waiver of registration fees for domestic funds for the remainder of 2020.
More is available to existing firms, however.
They can apply for:
- an extension for filing a number of returns and reports;
- additional time, where reasonable, for submitting annual accounts and financial statement auditor report (this does not extend to reporting entities);
- flexibility in meeting authorised individual obligations;
- a waiver of fees for applications relating to authorised individuals;
- temporary relief from capital requirements;
- a waiver of fees for applications for waivers and modifications; and,
- a waiver of listing fees for new SME issuers.
