TradeInformer understands that a number of brokers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been sent a questionnaire from the recently renamed Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
The document is apparently extensive and appears to be aimed at gathering as much information about CFD brokers’ operations as possible.
It is unclear how extensive the outreach from the CMA has been, but the questionnaire appears to have only been sent to brokers holding a Category 1 license.
Regardless, it is a clear sign that the huge boom in the local market has not escaped the regulator’s oversight.
Apart from gold trading, regulation was the number one issue on UAE brokers’ minds at the iFX Expo last week in Dubai.
The main fear among firms appears to be that there will be changes to the current Category 5 set up, which allows firms to introduce clients to entities outside of the UAE.
Any changes to this could easily end up pushing firms out of the country or force them to upgrade to the far more capital intensive Category 1 license.
