Following the ending of the consultation period on the proposed legislative changes  set out in Consultation Paper No. 83, the DFSA Board, after due consideration of consultees comments, has made the Rules in the PIB module to come into force on 9 December 2012. Consequential changes were made to the GEN, COB, GLO and IFR modules.

The new PIB module replaces the current PIB module in its entirety, hence there is no annex attached hereto to show the changes made to the current PIB module. To view the new PIB module – please refer to the last paragraph in this notice. Changes have been made to the draft version of PIB as a result of the consultation process. Set out below are the material changes for your information.

Standard PIB Waivers Process

During the consultation phase, the DFSA reviewed the waiver and modification notices (“Notices”) that have been provided to date to all Branches and concluded that it would be more efficient to provide specific relief in the new PIB module rather than issuing numerous new standard form Notices to replace those provided under the existing PIB regime.

The DFSA considers that the new method of dealing with Branches by way of PIB Rules will remove an unnecessary administrative burden on applicants, Authorised Firms and the DFSA. The DFSA only authorises a Branch if it is branching in from a jurisdiction with an equivalent prudential regulatory framework to that applicable in the DIFC.

Furthermore, any Branch seeking a change in scope of its Licence in future, which results in a change to its prudential category, will no longer have to apply for another Notice.

Accordingly, the DFSA will, pursuant to Article 25 (5)(a) of the Regulatory Law 2004, withdraw the current Notices on 9 December 2012.

Market Risk Standards

PIB Rules A5.3.25 to A5.3.28 have been modified to align them with the market risk standards issued by the Basel Committee.

 

TAKE NOTICE THAT:

The DFSA Board made the following Rulemaking Instruments to come into force on the 9 December 2012:

• PRUDENTIAL – INVESTMENT, INSURANCE INTERMEDIATION AND BANKING MODULE (PIB) INSTRUMENT (NO. 111) 2012, which repeals and replaces the Prudential – Investment, Insurance Intermediation and Banking (PIB) module of the DFSA Rulebook with a new module (see appendix 1 attached hereto);

• GENERAL MODULE (GEN) INSTRUMENT (NO. 112) 2012, which repeals and replaces the General Module (GEN) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (see appendix 2 attached hereto the detailed amendments which shows the changes made to the current version of this module);

• CONDUCT OF BUSINESS MODULE(COB) INSTRUMENT (NO. 113) 2012, which repeals and replaces the Conduct of Business (COB) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (see appendix 3 attached hereto the detailed amendments which shows the changes made to the current version of this module);

• GLOSSARY MODULE (GLO) INSTRUMENT (NO. 114) 2012, which repeals and replaces the Glossary (GLO) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (see appendix 4 attached hereto the detailed amendments which shows the changes made to the current version of this module); and

• ISLAMIC FINANCE RULES MODULE (IFR) INSTRUMENT (NO. 115) 2012, which repeals and replaces the Islamic Finance Rules (IFR) module of the DFSA Rulebook with an updated version (see appendix 5 attached hereto the detailed amendments which shows the changes made to the current version of this module).

The rule-making instruments mentioned above and the appendices to this notice can be viewed under the “Amendments to Legislation” section of the DFSA website and the relevant modules of the Rulebook will be replaced on the DFSA website on the date of their coming into force as described above. Earlier versions of the relevant modules are to be found in the archive.

Issued 15 October 2012