The UAE Financial Services Association, the brainchild of co-founder Arwa Hamdieh, was launched in May this year with 12 members representing a diverse cross-section of the financial services industry.
Members of the non-profit organisation at launch included companies such as Skandia International, Fidelity World Wide Investment, Allfunds Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Since then, Hamdieh said a further ten companies have joined including asset manager Robeco, insurance firm Zurich International and Barclays Bank.
Hamdieh said the association currently has two “working groups”. The first is “coordinating all matters related to the newly issued Securities and Commodities Association mutual fund regulation” – this will include gathering the views of the group’s members on recently published regulation and feeding it back to the SCA.
Another working group, which is chaired by Sean Kelleher, chief executive of intermediary company Mondial Dubai – another new member, is currently developing a voluntary code of conduct for financial advisers and wealth managers, which it is hoped, said Hamdieh, will be endorsed by the regulator when completed.
Furthermore, the association is looking to address the planned transition to a twin-peak regulatory model which Hamdieh said the association expects to result in a series of new regulations.
“We are aiming to collaborate with other associations in the market on these policy issues to achieve a coherent response strategy,” said Hamdieh.
“The board is currently defining its strategy for the next 12-18 months and some of the issues, which the market has indicated a need to address, include the development of the capital markets framework in the UAE and exploring different solutions to building effective saving and pension schemes in the country.”
