UAE and Qatar sign agreement to share financial data

Dubai: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Regulatory Authority, yesterday.

The MoU was signed on behalf of DFSA by Chief Executive Paul Koster, and Phillip Thorpe, Chairman and Chief Executive of the QFC Regulatory Authority, during the 4th GCC Regulators Summit in Doha.

The QFC Regulatory Authority was established in 2005 as the independent regulatory body of the Qatar Financial Centre. It has been established to regulate firms that conduct fin-ancial services in or from the QFC.

Koster said: "The DFSA is keen to engage with its counterparts in the GCC. I am pleased that we now have a formal arrangement with the QFC Regulatory Authority, with whom we have much in common. Both authorities are integrated regulators of international centres striving to embrace best practice and seeking to reflect the resolutions of the international standard-setters. This initiative should be seen as a mutual willingness to co-operate and share information to those standards."

"In the past year, the importance of effective co-ordination and co-operation between regulators cannot be overstated. We are looking for better ways of working together to resolve problems and prevent their repetition. Agreements such as this will make a difference," Koster said.

Thorpe welcomed the MoU, saying: "As markets and regulatory jurisdictions are brought closer together in today's ever more complex financial environment, it is increasingly important that regulators share information and working practices as a means of bolstering their effectiveness. This is especially important in neighbouring jurisdictions where cross-border activities are, therefore, more likely to occur and where regulators are, therefore, more likely to need to communicate.