Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Securities and Commodities Authority, issued a decision concerning the adoption of guidelines for the Financial Services Companies’ Categorisation Programme.
The decision was made in line with the authority’s role in developing the securities sector and raising the efficiency of the capital market in the country in a way that would guarantee the protection of investors, and support the sustainability of the economic growth, as reflected in the nation's products.
Sultan Al Mansouri said that the Financial Services Companies’ Categorisation Programme was inspired by the vision of Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to encourage institutions to develop their systems and abilities, and enable them to achieve pioneering roles in all international fields.
He added that the decision comes in light of the direction of the UAE government to apply the highest standards of excellence and pioneering in all sectors to achieve the UAE Vision for the country to be among the best in the world by 2021.
He pointed out that the authority, after conducting a study of the main components of the financial services industry and other processes that affect their performance, directly or indirectly, realised the need to create a competitive environment that would encourage the financial services companies as a key component in the development of the financial services industry, to raise their institutional abilities, while encouraging innovation in financial activities and services offered. This should be within a framework that focused on maximum efficiency to ensure the stability of the markets, increase the trust of investors, promote the industry and achieve the pioneering role for the country in this field.
He added that the Securities and Commodities Authority was about to launch a programme to categorise the financial services companies, under its supervision, according to the five-star methodology.
He mentioned that the authority, using this methodology, would develop a system of standards to categorise the financial services companies working in the country according to an inclusive measure, based on foundations that guarantee a qualitative leap in the performance of these companies.
The authority is holding awareness workshops for all those concerned to explain and demonstrate to them all information related to the programme, and after the end of the evaluation session, each company would receive a certificate with the categorisation level, the final evaluation report and the plaque of stars certified by the authority.

Source: WAM