The Financial Markets Tribunal (FMT) has issued revised Rules of Procedure of the FMT (FMT Rules) which came into force on 2 May 2024.

The FMT Rules have been revised to include, among other things, new rules, clarifications, and the expansion of existing rules concerning:

• the form and content of pleadings;
• disclosure by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) of documents which might reasonably be expected to assist an applicant’s case;
• the procedure if an applicant seeks to prevent publication of a decision and/or for the hearing to be in private;
• the suspension of a referred decision, which may be subject to the applicant complying with conditions including, for example, paying the disputed penalty to the order of the FMT pending the determination of the proceedings;
• hearings taking place in the absence of a party in certain circumstances; and
• the striking out of the whole or part of proceedings if an applicant fails to comply with the FMT’s directions, including an automatic strike out where there is a failure to comply with an “unless” direction by the FMT.

The President of the FMT has prepared an explanatory memorandum explaining the main changes that have been made to the FMT Rules and the purpose of the changes.

FMT Form 1 (Reference Notice) has also been revised to reflect the relevant changes.

The revised FMT Rules, explanatory memorandum, and revised FMT Form 1 (Reference Notice) can be found on the FMT section of the DFSA website: https://www.dfsa.ae/about-dfsa/our-structure/financial-markets-tribunal.