Middle East

Recent Articles

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  04/10/2024

  International

  A week in the world of ESG

  A lot can happen over the course of a week in the world of ESG. Since Wednesday 25 September 2024, there have been several important developments in Europe and the US and, while we don’t claim to cover every development, this is a summary of those that have most captured our interest and attention.As ever, please reach out if you would like to discuss any of these areas in more detail.European Commission begins infringement process regarding transposition of the CSRDOn Thursday 26 September 2024, the European Commission (“EC”) announced that it has sent letters to 17 EU Member...

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  02/10/2024

  International

  Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures launched

  On 23 September 2024, the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (“TISFD”) was launched.The TISFD, which has been launched to bring attention to the financial risks presented by inequality and other social-related issues to companies and financial institutions (“FIs”), has said that it will develop a global framework for companies and FIs to include more effective disclosures about impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities related to social issues in their public reporting.Yet another disclosure framework?Standardised, measurable reporting...

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  30/09/2024

  UAE

  UAE: VARA issues further regulations and guidance on marketing virtual assets and related activities in Dubai

  The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”) has published new regulations (the “Regulations”)[1] and accompanying guidance (the “Guidance”)[2] on the marketing of virtual assets (“VAs”) and related activities (“VA Activities”) in Dubai (together the “Marketing Regulations”). The Marketing Regulations supersede the existing regulations[3] in relation to marketing VAs and VA Activities in Dubai (the “Existing Regulations”), and will be effective from 1 October 2024, although entities that have received...

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  26/09/2024

  Middle East

  New SDAIA rules and guidelines published as KSA’s personal data protection framework is now enforceable

  In the lead up to the much anticipated enforcement date from 14 September 2024, the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) has issued a series of new rules and guidelines to help businesses understand and prepare for their obligations under the Personal Data Protection Law and its Implementing Regulations. We consider the top five key priority areas for any entities processing the personal data of residents in Saudi Arabia.As at the date of this publication, SDAIA has issued the following new rules and guidelines to supplement the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) and the Implementing Regulations...

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  13/09/2024

  UAE

  UAE: SCA Issues New Guidelines on the Regulation of Virtual Assets and VASPs

  IntroductionThe Securities and Commodities Authority (“SCA”) has published the long awaited guidelines (the “Guidelines”) that supplement its existing legislative framework for virtual assets in the UAE, in particular Cabinet Resolution No. 111 of 2022, SCA Decision 13/RM of 2021 (the “SCA Rulebook”) and SCA Decision No.26 (Chairman) of 2023 respectively.The Guidelines apply to all Virtual Assets and Virtual Assets Services Providers (“VASPs”) in the UAE, with the exception of the financial freezones of the DIFC and ADGM.The Guidelines are comprehensive,...

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  13/09/2024

  UAE

  UAE: FSRA consults on proposed stablecoin regulatory framework for ADGM

  On 20 August 2024, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (“FSRA”) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) published a consultation paper No. 7 of 2024 (“CP”) on its proposed regulatory framework for the issuance of “fiat-referenced tokens” (“FRTs”) from the ADGM. These proposals mark a significant development in the regulation of FRT issuance, which has never been specifically addressed in FSRA legislation until now. We have set out the key proposals below.1.      FRT issuance as a new Regulated ActivityUnder...

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