The phrase 'referred to the tribunal for review' applies to appeals against regulatory decisions in the Dubai International Financial Centre as much as it does in the United Kingdom. The latest such 'referral' concerns Dr Mubashir Sheikh, the former Chairman and Senior Executive Officer of MAS ClearSight Ltd, which is now in liquidation.

On 18 July 2019, the DFSA decided to take enforcement action against Dr Sheikh for breaking the law of the DFSA. In its decision notice, the DFSA found that Dr Sheikh:

• demonstrated a lack of integrity by acting dishonestly and deceptively;
• provided false, misleading or deceptive information to the DFSA; and
• caused MAS to breach the DFSA’s prudential rules.

The case is now before the Financial Markets Tribunal.

MAS ClearSight distributed advice about financial products and credit and arranged investments and custody. The DFSA licensed it in 2009 and suspended its licence on 18 June 2015.

In May and June 2015, Dr Sheikh was the chairman and majority shareholder of MAS. Because the DFSA thought that MAS's financial position was weak, MAS had been sending monthly financial reports off to the DFSA each month since March 2013. In early May 2015, according to the DFSA, Dr Sheikh arranged for almost all of MAS’ funds to be transferred from its US dollar account to its UAE dirham account, whose chequebook he controlled, giving himself exclusive day-to-day control of MAS’s bank accounts. In May and June 2015, he then allegedly withdrew the equivalent of US$512,457 in cash from the dirham account using 15 cheques, at least 14 of which he signed himself. His withdrawals, according to the DFSA, caused MAS’ liquid assets to drop far below the minimum amount required by the DFSA’s prudential rules. He also allegedly caused MAS to misreport its financial position to the DFSA in its report for May 2015.

The decision notice, which Dr Sheikh contests, goes on to say that he concealed the withdrawals from others at MAS and thereby caused MAS to misreport its financial position to the DFSA.

The regulator also accuses Dr Sheikh of misleading it in July 2016 during its investigation. It suggests that he fabricated a story of loans and transactions concerning potential MAS investors, namely Investors A and B, adding that his version of events was "inconsistent with facts inferred from contemporaneous evidence." It also considers that as a result of causing MAS to misreport its financial position to the DFSA, he provided information which was false, misleading or deceptive to the DFSA. Article 66 Regulatory Law 2004 bans the concealment of information if that concealment is likely to mislead or deceive the DFSA, so the bar for being held dishonest is lower than one might think.

Moreover, the DFSA also says that Dr Sheikh contravened Rule 4.4.1, which states that an authorised individual must observe high standards of integrity and fair dealing in carrying out every licensed function. It argues that his conduct fell far short of this standard. Rule 4.4.1 is but one of six "principles for authorised individuals" to follow.

The DFSA is becoming more open about the details of its punitive cases. Dr Sheikh's decision notice is now in the public realm and a spokesperson told Compliance Matters that it will soon be DFSA policy to publish at least the odd decision notice even before the recipient has had time to refer its contents to the tribunal.