Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) said it has signed a co-operation agreement with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), the single regulatory authority for banks insurance companies, mutual funds and securities business in the island.

CIMA, which was established in 1997, also manages the Cayman Islands currency, and advises the Cayman Islands government on financial-services regulatory matters.

DFSA chief executive Paul Koster signed the MoU at the Dubai International Financial Authority (DIFC) recently during a state visit by the Premier of the Cayman Islands, McKeeva Bush along with top government representatives and business leaders.

DIFC governor Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, and senior officials from DIFC Authority and the DFSA attended the signing ceremony. The MoU was signed earlier in Grand Cayman by the CIMA managing director Cindy Scotland.

After the signing, Koster said both authorities were integrated regulators striving to embrace best practice and seeking to reflect the resolutions of the international standard-setters.

'Both the DFSA and CIMA are already signatories to multi-lateral MoU of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) which reflects the highest standards of co-operation and assistance among capital market regulators. This bi-lateral initiative extends that commitment to the banking and insurance sectors,' he remarked.

“Given the international nature of the Centre, the DFSA has always valued the importance of its links with and trust between supervisors and regulators.'

'We now have a bi-lateral MoU network with 53 fellow regulators, including the central banks and banking supervisors in the UAE, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Jordan, China, Singapore and Japan,” Koster added.-TradeArabia News Service