In Dubai, if a compliance officer or finance director is held to be guilty of a regulatory infraction that is not deliberate or reckless but nevertheless negligent, the regulator usually satisfies itself with issuing a censure. This has been the case with Prabhakar Kamath.

Mr Kamath, who used to work as the finance officer at a DFSA-authorised firm, has been censured for submitting an inaccurate financial report to the DFSA.

In June 2015, he sent the regulator his firm’s monthly financial report for May. It was incorrect because it said that the firm continued to meet the DFSA’s prudential requirements. In fact, its current account balance was significantly less than stated, in breach of the rules.

Before Kamath sent the report off, a senior manager at the firm gave him inaccurate information and he failed to take steps to verify it by looking at bank statements. The DFSA says that he contravened its "principles for authorised individuals" by failing to exercise sound judgment and diligence in his job. It conducted an investigation, at the end of which Kamath accepted responsibility and agreed to settle the matter at an early stage, having co-operated fully. Although breaches of the DFSA’s principles have led to personal financial penalties in the past, the DFSA was lenient this time.