The Dubai Financial Services Authority has unveiled flexibility relief measures aimed at helping financial firms cope with the effects of the current regional conflict.
The package includes a four-point “areas of relief” designed to ensure companies will be able to continue their operations and serve their clients in the present circumstances and beyond, the DFSA said in a statement on Thursday.
The DFSA is the regulator of the Dubai International Financial Centre, one of the fastest-growing onshore financial centres of the broader Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.
These include measures for licensing and administrative requirements, governance and staffing arrangements, regulatory reporting and supervisory processes, and implementation timelines for selected regulatory initiatives, it said.
“These measures are intended to be risk‑based, proportionate and time‑limited, and will be applied in a manner that reflects the nature, scale and complexity of individual firms,” the DFSA said.
Companies at the DIFC, meanwhile, have “demonstrated great resilience and financial strength” DFSA chief executive Mark Steward said.
“The DFSA wishes to provide assistance to firms, on request, as a bridge to the resumption of normal trading … these measures will ease operational challenges while ensuring our high regulatory standards continue to be met,” he said.
The UAE continues to deal with attacks by Iran, which claims it is retaliating for strikes by the US and Israel. Sectors such as tourism, hospitality and aviation have experienced a slowdown since the start of the war, as airspace closures and flight disruptions remain possible.
The government, however, has ensured a business-as-usual environment. In Dubai, authorities approved a Dh1 billion ($272.2 million) support package for the emirate's business sector that took effect on April 1.
This week, Abdulla bin Touq, Minister for Economy and Tourism, said the UAE was preparing a significant support package for the tourism sector.
The DFSA will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds, and will provide additional measures to assist firms, if needed, Mr Steward said.
Last month, The Dubai International Financial Centre the DIFC reported that it welcomed a record number of companies in 2025, driven by a sharp rise in the number of asset and wealth managers in the financial hub of the emirate, which now plans to double its size by the end of the next decade.
Revenue at the centre rose to Dh2.13 billion, a 20 per cent annual increase, while net profit jumped by 28 per cent to Dh1.48 billion.
The DIFC is set to follow the same growth trajectory this year, and may even pass the pace achieved last year, with the tally at the end of the first month showing great promise with 30 per cent year-on-year growth.
