The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has published the findings of its Thematic Review of Complaints handling practices within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The Review covered the entire Complaints handling process, from initial identification to final resolution and governance, and offered insights into the culture at Authorised Firms (AFs).

The Review comes against the backdrop of a consistently low number of reported Complaints, even as the number of AFs, Clients, and activities continues to grow across all sectors. Complaints are a valuable source of intelligence, enabling AFs to identify trends or issues through root cause analysis, improve their products and services, and maintain competitiveness.

Key areas of focus in the review included:

• Complaints handling: assessing how AFs manage Complaints and dispute resolution, with compliance to Chapter 9 of the DFSA Rulebook General Module (GEN);
• Good Practice and Areas for Improvement: identifying good practices and areas for enhancement to foster more effective Complaints handling across the industry; and
• Outliers: spotting significant deviations and instances of material non-compliance for potential regulatory follow-up.

The DFSA reminds AFs of their ongoing obligation to promptly report significant events and other relevant matters to the DFSA.

For further information, please refer to the full Thematic Review:

https://www.dfsa.ae/download_file/3723/0​​​​