Guidance, Templates and Policy Statements

This Guidance is an intended to provide Authorised Persons with practical illustrations of how the cyber governance principles should be interpreted to mitigate their cyber risks. It also contributes to supporting a holistic response to illicit activity involving cyber-related criminality recognizing its correlation with fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing; and with the aim of balancing innovation and risk to create a safer and more resilient financial ecosystem.

This Joint Guidance proposes practical solutions to manage the impact of economic uncertainty on Expected Credit Loss, while remaining compliant with globally accepted financial reporting standards, IFRS. It is suggested to employ the flexibility embedded in the IFRS 9 framework to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

This Guidance is issued under section 15 of the Financial Services and Markets Regulations 2015 (“FSMR”). It should be read in conjunction with FSMR, the relevant Rulebooks of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (“FSRA”), the Guidance & Policies Manual of FSRA, the ‘Guidance – Regulation of Virtual Asset Activities in ADGM’ and the ‘Guidance – Regulation of Digital Securities Activity in ADGM’ (“Digital Securities Guidance”).

This Guidance sets out the FSRA’s approach to the regulation of Virtual Asset activities in ADGM, including activities conducted by Virtual Asset Exchanges, Virtual Asset Custodians and, as applicable, intermediaries engaged in Virtual Asset Activities.

This Guidance sets out the FSRA’s approach to the regulation of Digital Securities in ADGM for both primary and secondary markets, including in relation to Offers, Listings and Market Infrastructures (Recognised Investment Exchanges (RIEs), Multilateral Trading Facilities (MTFs), Recognised Clearing Houses (RCHs), amongst others).

This Guidance and Policies Manual (“GPM”) contains guidance on how the FSRA regulates and supervises financial services firms and markets that operate in ADGM. The GPM is meant to assist persons operating or intending to operate financial services or a market in the ADGM and should be read in conjunction with the Financial Services and Markets Regulations and the ADGM Rulebooks.

This Guidance sets out the FSRA’s approach to those considering developing or using “Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)”, including applicants for a Financial Services Permission in ADGM, financial services firms located outside ADGM, and participants in FinTech, RegTech, SupTech, amongst others.

This Guidance sets out the FSRA’s approach to authorisation of Digital Investment Managers. It also describes the relief available to Digital Investment Managers whose business models meet conditions that serve to reduce the risks they pose to clients and to the FSRA’s objectives.

This Confidentiality Policy provides guidance concerning the obligations and requirements on the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (the “Regulator”) when using and disclosing non-public information provided by third parties in the course of regulating financial services in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”).

This Guidance sets out the FSRA’s approach towards the regulation of operators of Private Financing Platforms (PFPs) serving equity investment, debt financing and trade receivables funding needs of start-ups, private enterprises and SMEs.