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The DME has been granted an Authorised Market Institution license (AMI) by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). The DME is under the direct jurisdiction of the DFSA and the DME is required to comply with the DFSA regulatory requirements. In brief, it is the responsibility of the DME to regulate the operation of the market; the DFSA is responsible for the authorisation or recognition (as appropriate) of the DME Members. Beyond this the DME is subject to regulatory controls and input from various Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Emirates Government offices. In international trading, rules applied by overseas regulatory bodies such as the CFTC in the USA and the FSA in the UK also have to be taken into account. To ensure the observance of these regulations, the DME has a compliance department under the supervision of its Chief Compliance Officer who reports directly to the DME Board in relation to compliance matters. As the DME is an AMI, it will maintain a high standard to ensure that it regulates the market and that it can carry out its statutory responsibility to ensure orderly markets. The DME Compliance department has two divisions to carry out its role of regulating the market: Member surveillance and Market surveillance. 

The role of Member surveillance

The member surveillance team works to ensure that the membership is in full compliance with the relevant rules and regulations. This will include carrying out visits to, and possible on-site inspection of, member firms. The division will also monitor activity on the floor by Floor Member and Authorised Terminal Users. Member surveillance will liaise with the DFSA to avoid both regulatory overlap and regulatory gaps.

The Member surveillance team may be contacted at member.surveillance@dubaimerc.com.

The role of Market surveillance

The role of market surveillance is to protect the integrity of the DME's markets by monitoring that trading is fair and transparent. This includes analysis of the fundamentals of the contracts. Market surveillance staff will analyse confidential data relating to members futures and options positions as electronically reported by DME Clearing Members each day. The staff will also monitor intra-day trading activities on the DME.

The Compliance department manages the potential conflicts of holding sensitive information by being positioned within a secure 'Chinese Wall'.

The Market surveillance team may be contacted via market.surveillance@dubaimerc.com.