DFSA signs agreement with US banking regulators

Dubai: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States banking supervisors.

The signing at the board of governors of the Federal Reserve coincided with a visit of David Knott, chief executive of the DFSA, to Washington, where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held its annual meeting last weekend.

The four federal US agencies principally responsible for banking supervision in the United States - the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of Thrift Supervision - have all joined as parties to a comprehensive statement of co-operation with the DFSA.

Knott said: "This is an historic event in the development of the DFSA. Never before has a regulator from the Middle East entered into such a comprehensive co-operative arrangement with the US regulators.

The attraction of the Dubai International Financial Centre as the domicile of choice for US financial institutions in the Middle East will be further enhanced by these regulatory relationships."

This initiative reflects each agency's commitment to co-operation in relation to prudential oversight and inspections.

It adopts the model for information sharing developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and follows similar arrangements the DFSA has with other significant banking supervisors such as the UK Financial Services Authority and Germany's Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin).