The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the
financial free zone which began operations in 2015, has now come of
age.
On 14 April 2019 Mr Alexander Guy, Senior Executive Officer and
Director at Eshara Capital Limited, had the uncommon honour of
becoming the first named person to be fined by ADGM's Financial
Services Regulatory Authority. Eshara Capital, in its corporate
capacity, was also fined in connection with the same
contraventions.
Commencement of regulatory enforcement actions, such as the
imposition of financial penalties, demonstrates that the Financial
Services Regulatory Authority has the capacity, and perhaps more
importantly, the appetite to take actions against its member firms
(and their senior management). Financial free zones who act too
aggressively in the early days risk scaring away potential members.
Being seen as too lenient is just as bad, and risks threatening the
creditability of the institution itself.
