3 January 2023: The Financial Markets Tribunal (FMT) has upheld a decision by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) against the founder of the Abraaj Group, including its most significant ever fine for an individual of US$135m.

Abraaj Group was fined almost US$3m in 2019 for its misconduct of misleading or deceiving investors and carrying on unauthorised financial service activities in or from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The DFSA ruled against the company’s founder after it found he had personally proposed, orchestrated, authorised, and executed actions that directly or indirectly misled or deceived the investors. In upholding the ruling, the FMT said that ‘the US$135m penalty is unusually high, but the remuneration that Mr Naqvi received was high amidst conduct that was exceptionally serious and the cause of what appears to have been unprecedented harm to the entire community of the DIFC’.

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