The Dubai International Financial Centre is “on the ball” with financial regulation as it becomes a growing hub for financial services, according to Gaenor Jones, regional director of the CII, Middle East.
Speaking to FT Adviser, Jones discussed the work the institute has been doing in the region since it set up in Dubai in 2018 and how the UAE is becoming a growing hub for financial services.
Jones explained when she first came to Dubai 16 years ago as a financial adviser she was shocked at how many people were operating unqualified but highlighted the region has come a long way since then.
She said: “There were people who didn’t have qualifications and I couldn’t understand how they were giving advice on things like pensions which require really highly skilled, technical advice. And the repercussions of receiving advice from an unqualified adviser can be massive.
“The UAE is getting a lot better, things are being tightened up, the DIFC where we operate is fantastic, it is on the ball with regulations and it's as near as you can get in mirroring the UK."
Jones said the number of new firms joining the DIFC every year is on an ‘upward trajectory’.
“We are starting to see UK household names entering the market for a number of reasons.
“The first is that increasing numbers of expats are moving here from other jurisdictions meaning the amount of wealth in the area is growing, the second is the ease to do business in the UAE and of course the tax benefits,” Jones added.
Jones also pointed out the UAE is a hub for the rest of the middle east, meaning firms that set up in Dubai can broaden their reach across the entire region.
Firms wanting to upskill
Jones said once the word had got out that the CII had set up in Dubai, it became “inundated” with firms from right across the UAE wanting to upskill their employees.
She said: “Firms really want to do this, they want to do the best for their employees and they want to do their best for the sector.
"Firms want to build trust and for the sector to grow but it won’t grow and the trust won’t come unless their advisers are qualified and that’s why they are so keen to work with us.”
The first big programme CII Middle East did was upskill Emiratis by putting them through a programme of three CII study units with the option to go on to do a diploma.
The CII also works with a number of ‘international professional partner firms’ which is the international equivalent to corporate chartered status.
Jones said: “We developed the international professional partner firms initiative to encourage businesses that are developing and investing in their staff and supporting them through their development to join the initiative.
“We then put them on our website to profile to clients and the rest of the world that these firms are adhering and working to the correct standards.”
