Following the ending of the consultation period on a number of proposed legislative changes, that were set out in Consultation Papers, 71, 72 and 73, the DFSA Board at its meeting on 10 February 2011, after due consideration of consultees comments, recommended to the President of the DIFC that amendments be made to the Regulatory Law 2004 and made amendments to the DFSA Rulebook and Sourcebook as described below.  Accordingly, where reference is made below to a Consultation Paper, please bear in mind that changes may have been made to the legislation therein following consultation.

TAKE NOTICE THAT:

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai on 31 March 2011 enacted the Regulatory Law Amendment Law, DIFC Law No. 1 of 2011 to come into force on 28th April 2011.

To view what changes have been made to the Regulatory Law 2004 please consult the above mentioned amendment law which is published on the “Amendments to Legislation” section of the DFSA website.  The Regulatory Law 2004 as amended will be published on the DFSA website on the date of its coming into force as described above.

FURTHER TAKE NOTICE THAT:

The DFSA Board made the following Rulemaking Instruments to come into force on the date the Regulatory Law Amendment Law 2011 comes into force (28th April 2011):

• GENERAL RULES INSTRUMENT (NO. 73) 2011, which repeals without replacement the following modules of the DFSA Rulebook:

• Authorisation Module (AUT);

• Supervision Module (SUP);

and repeals and replaces the General (GEN) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version.

Consequentially, the AUT and SUP modules will cease to exist. The Rules that were set out in these modules have been transferred to the GEN Module (See appendices 1, 2, 3 and 4 attached hereto for the detailed amendments).

• GLOSSARY MODULE (GLO) INSTRUMENT (NO. 74) 2011, which repeals and replaces the Glossary (GLO) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version; (See appendices 2, 3 and 4 attached hereto for the detailed amendments)

• ISLAMIC FINANCE RULES (IFR) INSTRUMENT (NO. 75) 2011, which repeals and replaces the Islamic Finance Rules (IFR) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (See appendices 1 and 4 attached hereto for the detailed amendments);

• REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE (REP) INSTRUMENT (NO. 76) 2011, which repeals and replaces the Representative Office (REP) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (See appendices 3 and 4 attached hereto for the detailed amendments);

• PRUDENTIAL – INVESTMENT, INSURANCE INTERMEDIATION AND BANKING (PIB) INSTRUMENT (NO. 77) 2011, which repeals and replaces the Prudential – Investment, Insurance Intermediation and Banking (PIB) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (See appendix 1 attached hereto for the detailed amendments);

The amendments made to these modules are as a result of the following consultations:

• Financial Service Definitions Review (See Consultation Paper No. 71 for more details);

• DFSA Financial Promotions Regime (See Consultation Paper No. 72 for more details); and

• Regulatory Policy and Process Sourcebook and Enhancements to the DFSA’s Rulebook (See Consultation Paper No. 73 for more details);

and are outlined for your information in Appendices 1, 2, 3 and 4 to this notice.

These appendices can also be viewed under the “Amendments to Legislation” section of the DFSA website.  The relevant modules of the Rulebook will be replaced on the DFSA website on the date of their coming into force as described above, however, prior to that date the new versions of the modules may be viewed under the “Amendments to Legislation” section of the DFSA website.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT:

As foreshadowed by Consultation Paper No. 73, the DFSA is introducing a new Regulatory Policy and Process module of the DFSA Sourcebook to come into effect on the date the Regulatory Law Amendment Law 2011 comes into force (28th April 2011). 

The DFSA has also amended and removed certain guidance (see Guidance Instrument No. 8, 2011 for details) from the following modules of the DFSA Rulebook:

• Authorised Market Institutions (AMI);

• Anti-Money Laundering (AML);

• Ancillary Service Providers (ASP);

• Recognition (REC);

• Takeover Rules (TKO); and 

• Prudential – Insurance Business (PIN).

Amendments to these modules can be viewed under the “Amendments to Legislation” section of the website and the relevant modules of the Rulebook and Sourcebook will be replaced on the DFSA website on the date of their coming into force as described above.

Issued 11 April 2011