UAE stock market regulator chief said to be retiring

The chief executive of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stock market regulator, Abdullah al-Turifi, is due to retire, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Turifi, a founding member of the regulatory body, is serving his last month at the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), one of the sources said. Another said an announcement on his departure could be made as soon as after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, due around July 17.

Obaid Saif Hamad al-Zaabi, SCA’s deputy chief executive for legal affairs and issuance, and Emirates Insurance Authority director general Ebrahim Obaid al-Zaabi were among the possible replacements, the sources said.

A media adviser for the SCA said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters that Turifi “is in office and doing his work as usual”, adding any claims to the contrary were “rumours”.

Turifi has served since 2003 as chief executive officer of the SCA, which oversees the UAE’s two stock exchanges, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market, as well as the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCE).

Leadership changes at the UAE’s financial regulators are relatively rare. Mubarak Rashid al-Mansouri, an investment fund chief, was appointed central bank governor in September, replacing Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi, who had been at the helm of the central bank since 1991.

Turifi’s position is a political appointment at the rank of undersecretary. Prior to his role at the SCA, he served as assistant under-secretary for international economic affairs at the Ministry of Economy & Trade, according to his profile on the SCA website.

While heading the regulator, the UAE has emerged from a relative backwater to a member of MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index, which it joined in May last year.

The global regulatory environment has tightened in recent years as governments seek to guard against a repeat of the financial crisis. The UAE has been considering adopting a so-called twin peaks model, which could hand the SCA extra powers relating to conduct of business matters, including markets oversight and consumer protection.