The Dubai Financial Services Authority has imposed a fine of more than Dh5 million ($1.37 million) on brokerage RJ O’Brien Mena Capital for failing to comply with regulatory requirements.
The fine was reduced from the original Dh10.25 million since the firm offered the authority an enforceable undertaking to remediate the failings and agreed to settle the matter, the regulator of the Dubai International Financial Centre said in a statement on Friday.
The firm also engaged an external compliance expert to assist and to verify that the necessary remediation has been completed.
“Authorised firms must ensure that they have adequate compliance and other resources to be able to comply with their legal and regulatory obligations," said Patrick Meaney, head of enforcement at the authority.
"Compliance is not an incidental cost of doing business, it is a critical function that must be adequately resourced in terms of both number and quality of staff.”
RJO Mena is a fully owned subsidiary of JVMC Holding, a group holding company that operates in the US, UK, EU, Middle East and Asia.
The group has a futures brokerage and clearing firm, including a full clearing member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and all its markets, as well as the markets operated by the Intercontinental Exchange Group in the EU and the US.
The matter refers to RJO Mena's acquisition of LFS, another DFSA authorised firm, which was initiated in 2020.
The authority said it found the firm "did not undertake sufficient planning and analysis to ensure it could comply with its ongoing regulatory obligations after acquiring an additional brokerage".
"The firm’s senior management were aware of the lack of compliance resources and failed to adequately address it to ensure that the compliance function was able to fulfil its regulatory obligations," it said.
But the authority said it "did not find any evidence that the firm acted deliberately to contravene DFSA administered laws and rules".
It also said the contraventions occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, which made planning and oversight of the LFS integration "more challenging due to travel restrictions preventing travel by group employees to Dubai".
The authority has been cracking down on regulatory non-compliance as part of efforts to maintain confidence and stability in the financial services industry in the DIFC. The regulator aims to reduce systemic risk in the sector and prevent, detect and restrain conduct that causes or may cause damage to the reputation of the financial hub.
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Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
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Torque: 175Nm
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
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2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
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Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
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