Newsletter Archives - Page 122 of 247 - LexisNexis Middle East

Saudi Arabia: Financial Firms Ordered to Maintain High Customer Satisfaction Levels

08/09/202208/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Arab News, 7 September 2022: Saudi Arabia’s Central Bank has ordered financial firms in the Kingdom to maintain high customer satisfaction levels. They have issued a Circular to this effect. It applies to all banks, finance, insurance and payments companies operating in the Kingdom.

Customer satisfaction levels must not fall below 80%. Complaints that have already been escalated and closed for the customer’s benefit after processing should not exceed 5%.

The Circular will come into force in the first quarter of 2023.

The Bank added they would review the performance of financial institutions in line with the relevant indicators every quarter and take legal action against violators.

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Qatar: Companies Have to Sort Waste from 1 October

07/09/202207/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

The Peninsula, 7 September 2022: Qatar’s Municipality Ministry has announced all companies have to provide and place containers for sorting solid waste at their facilities by 1 October this year.

If they do not, they could be penalised. They should sort waste in line with Qatar Law No. 18/2017 and Qatar Ministerial Decision No. 170/2021.

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UAE: Third Generation of UAE Passport and Advanced Visa System Trial Launched

06/09/202206/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

The UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security has announced it has launched the third generation of the UAE Passport and a trial of the new Advanced Visa System. The changes will come into force on 3 October 2022.

The new system offers multiple facilities, including a renewable five-year Green Residence visa.

There are three types of Green Visas. They are green residency for skilled workers, green residency for the self-employed and green residency for investors or partners in a commercial activity. This last category will not require a guarantor and will be valid for five years. It may be renewed and will replace the investor’s previous residency of two years.

A new Jobseeker Visa will also be introduced. Holders of this visa will be able to come to the UAE without having a sponsor or host to explore work, investment and business opportunities.

It also offers new benefits for Golden Visa holders. These benefits include the ongoing validity of the visa regardless of how much time the holder spends outside the UAE and removing the limit on the number of sponsored domestic labourers. Family members will also be able to stay in the country during the visa’s validity period, even after the holder dies.

The new generation of services has been developed in line with the highest security and technology standards to facilitate customer procedures and accelerate the UAE’s economic and sustainable development drive.

The visa will allow salaried people, self-employed individuals and investors or company partners to have a visa without a sponsor for up to five years. Holders of this visa will also be able to sponsor first-degree relatives.

Additional reporting from Gulf News (United Arab Emirates) on 5 September 2022.

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Kuwait: New Residency Law Expected After Election

05/09/202205/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Kuwait Times, 5 September 2022: A new residency law will be submitted by the government to the National Assembly after the elections to address the demographic structure, reduce expatriate numbers, localise jobs, increase Kuwaitisation in the private sector and reform the economy.

The laws that the government submitted to the previous National Assembly will be raised again to the new Assembly with a few changes requested by earlier parliament members and some of the candidates who have been running in the elections.

The proposed new law bans sponsors from bringing in expatriate workers without permission from the Public Authority of Manpower. It has also been saying the minister should issue a decision on the procedures, documents and fees required from the sponsor. Anyone who illegally employs workers or runaways will be subject to heavy fines ranging from 5,000 Dinars to a maximum of 50,000 Dinars and paying all costs related to deporting the workers. In repeated offences, the violations will be referred to the public prosecution.

The proposed law also prohibits sponsors contracted for government projects from submitting to competent authorities a request to recruit workers from outside the country or recruit more workers than required, which should help stop the trade in iqamas.

To reduce expatriate workers who are not required, all sponsors must pay a deposit of 500 Dinars for every worker they sponsor to ensure they are employed. Salaries are paid until the end of their service, following procedures on health insurance and the costs of sending the workers back to their countries.

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Abu Dhabi: ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority Imposes Penalties on Five Institutions

02/09/202202/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Albayan, 1 September 2022: The ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FRSA) has imposed financial and administrative penalties and fees ranging from 30,000 AED to 119,000 AED on five financial institutions.

The five institutions violated the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) regulations, which were brought in in the UAE at the beginning of 2017.

The penalties imposed were for the failure of these institutions (to the extent applicable in each case) to apply appropriate due diligence procedures, keep records of the performance of due diligence, report required information completely and accurately and obtain from their clients a valid and up-to-date certification of their tax information.

For the full story, click here.

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Abu Dhabi: Consumer Dispute Resolution Service Launched

02/09/202202/09/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Albayan, 1 September 2022: The Abu Dhabi Business Centre, in cooperation with the Judicial Department, has launched a consumer dispute resolution service.

The aim is to expedite the settlement of disputes between consumers and commercial establishments in Abu Dhabi amicably and at the lowest possible costs for the parties.

The service has been set up to settle and resolve disputes between consumers and commercial establishments within 21 days from the date of the appearance of the two parties before the consumer dispute resolution service’s team.

However, the conciliator may extend the period for an extra 21 days.

The conciliators will be meeting the dispute parties, offer reconciliation and help gain agreement between the parties to reach an amicable solution.

They may seek assistance from experts registered in the Judicial Chamber or experts agreed upon by the litigants to provide technical expertise on the dispute issues.

For the full story, click here.

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Oman: New Law to Combat Climate Change

31/08/202231/08/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Oman Observer, 29 August 2022: Oman is currently updating their climate affairs regulations to keep up with local and international developments.

The aim is that the regulations will monitor the performance of companies and institutions tasked with climate areas, who will be expected to either moderate or change their activities to adapt to climate change. A new climate change law will serve as a regulatory code for drafting general climate change provisions covering all Oman sectors.

Preliminary steps include drafting a national strategy to alleviate and adapt to climate change.

A database has also been set up to collate information on emissions and track progress toward reducing emissions by seven per cent by 2030. There is also a database collecting information on projects to adapt to climate change in Oman and another on greenhouse gases in primary sectors.

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Saudi Arabia: Procedures for Implementing Regulations for Dealing With Non-Disclosure of Information for Tax Purposes Issued

31/08/202231/08/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Almadina, 27 August 2022: The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has issued procedures for implementing the provisions of the regulations for dealing with non-disclosure of information for tax purposes.

A fine of 500 riyals will be imposed for each day of delay after the end of the period specified for submitting a tax report, provided that the amount of the fine does not exceed 15,000 riyals, according to the common reporting standard before 31 May of the year following the calendar year to which the tax report relates.

The provisions of these procedures will apply to all persons subject to the regulation for the treatment of non-disclosure of information for tax purposes by the provisions of agreements to which Saudi Arabia is a party.

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Abu Dhabi: Company Fined for Violating Anti-Money Laundering Laws

31/08/202231/08/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Mubasher, 30 August 2022: The ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority has imposed a fine of 1.3 million AED on Wise Nuqud Ltd (WISE), for violating a number of anti-money laundering requirements.

The Authority found that WISE had not maintained adequate anti-money laundering controls to ensure full compliance with their anti-money laundering obligations.

It was stated that WISE did not verify the source of their funds as part of the enhanced customer due diligence it conducted on a category of clients that were identified as high-risk before undertaking transactions on behalf of these clients. Instead, WISE carried out verification of the source of funds and sources of wealth for these clients when their accounts had met the specified payment threshold.

WISE was required to identify and verify the source of funds (SOF) and the source of wealth (SOW), as part of the Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (EDD) it performed on a category of customers it had identified as high-risk before undertaking transactions on behalf of those customers. Instead, they carried out SOF and SOW checks on those customers only when their account met a specified payment threshold (and after they had already established a business relationship with them).

The firm had also not correctly obtained Senior Management’s approval to establish business relationships with a category of customers that it had identified as high-risk.

The FSRA’s review did not identify any instances of actual money laundering resulting from Wise’s AML systems and control failures. In addition, WISE and its senior management cooperated fully with the FSRA’s enquiries and undertook substantial steps to remediate the issues identified by the FSRA.

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UAE: New SME/Start Up Loan Scheme

31/08/202231/08/2022
by Benjamin Filaferro

Khaleej Times, 29 August 2022: The Emirates Development Bank has announced a new scheme which will allow SMEs and start-ups to apply for loans of up to 5 million AED directly through their Digital Banking App and receive approval or feedback within five days.

The service, is being carried out in partnership with the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Beehive. The service will be available for UAE-based SMEs and start-ups operating in one of the development bank’s five priority sectors. These are manufacturing, healthcare, food security, advanced technology, and infrastructure. These loans will be available on various tenors of up to 60 month.

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