The Dubai Financial Services Authority has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

The MoU was signed on behalf of the DFSA by Chief Executive, Mr Ian Johnston, and on behalf of the FSRA by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Richard Teng, at the offices of the DFSA.

Both authorities reside in states that belong to the Gulf Co-opertion Council, which has a seat on the Financial Action Task Force's board. They are also both regulators of financial centres that are founded on Common Law principles. In the signing ceremony, both made the customary obeisance to the world's international standard-setters, including the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; the International Organisation of Securities Commissions; the International Association of Insurance Supervisors; and the FATF itself. The MoU guarantees co-operation and the sharing of information, although not in a legally binding sense. Teng thought that 'investor protection' was one of the MoU's goals.

The DFSA has now signed some 97 MoUs (it has lost count itself) with its counterparts since its establishment in 2004. Abu Dhabi still has very few MoUs on its books, but it has been active this year. In February it signed one with Guernsey's regulator. In May it signed one with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In June it signed one with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. In May the new Abu Dhabi Global Market, which the FSRA started to regulate last autumn, signed an MoU with the UAE’s Central Bank in favour of greater co-operation against money laundering and terrorist finance. According to Johnston, this latest agreement with Dubai builds on the agreements already signed with other UAE regulators, including the Central Bank.