Complaints

The Registration Authority (RA)

The Registration Authority, in addition to registering and licensing legal entities, is the commercial regulator of the ADGM, responsible for monitoring and, where necessary, enforcing compliance with ADGM’s commercial legislation, as well as regulating Auditors and Insolvency Practitioners and administering the UAE’s Economic Substance Regulation (ESR) in the ADGM.

Complaints received and assessed by the RA

The RA assesses complaints concerning potential contraventions of ADGM’s commercial legislation. The RA also assesses complaints of potential misconduct by non-financial businesses registered in ADGM or any non-financial services' conduct or activities that may cause damage to the reputation of ADGM.

Complaints not dealt with by the RA

The RA does not deal with complaints concerning the provision of financial services by firms that hold a financial services permission from the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), or purport to do so. Complaints against financial services firms should be made to the FSRA Complaints Form.

Submitting a complaint to the RA

The RA receives various types of complaints which are handled by different teams depending on the nature of the complaint. Please follow the instructions below to direct your concern to the correct team.

Complaints concerning contraventions of ADGM’s commercial legislation

If the nature of your complaint concerns potential contraventions of ADGM’s commercial legislation by ADGM registered businesses or businesses purporting to be registered in ADGM, as well as misconduct by non-financial ADGM registered businesses, direct it to the RA.

A person wanting to submit a complaint to the RA directly should complete and submit the RA Complaints Form. The RA will only consider complaints that are submitted in writing.

To enable the RA with assessing your complaint as efficiently as possible, you should include:

• Details of the subject of your complaint, including the registered business name, address and where possible, the name and contact details of the individual you dealt with; and

• Details of your complaint, which we recommend you set out in chronological order, including times and dates where possible.

You should also attach any relevant documents to your complaint. If you have written to any person regarding your complaint previously, please attach a copy of this correspondence as well as any response received.

Complaints concerning employment: Employment Affairs Office

If the nature of your complaint concerns your employment with an ADGM registered business, please go to the ADGM Employment Affairs Office site, who will assist you further.

Complaints concerning privacy & personal data: Office of Data Protection

If the nature of your complaint concerns the handling or misuse of your personal data, or you wish to raise a complaint that your data privacy rights have been violated by an ADGM registered business, please go to the ADGM Office of Data Protection site, who will assist you further.

How the RA handles complaints

Upon receipt of your complaint, the RA will:

• Provide written acknowledgement of your complaint;

• Undertake a thorough assessment of your complaint to determine the most appropriate regulation action, if any, to be taken; and

• Provide you with a written final response to your complaint.

The RA’s assessment of your complaint may involve:

• Requesting further information or documents from you;

• Liaising internally with specialists within the RA;

• Contacting the subject(s) of your complaint, where necessary and appropriate, or other persons who may have information relevant to the matter; and/or

• Contacting other regulatory authorities.

To assess a complaint properly, it may be necessary to speak with relevant third parties including any person(s) is who the subject of the complaint. The RA’s practice is not to share details of the identity of complainants (or information that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a complainant) with the subject of the complaint, without prior consent of the complainant. However, it may be necessary to disclose your identity to the subject(s) of the complaint and we will seek your consent to do so, as appropriate.

The RA endeavours to complete assessments within twenty-eight (28) days of receipt of a complaint. However, some assessments may take longer depending on the nature and complexity of the complaint.

Submitting a Whistleblowing Report to the RA

A person wanting to submit a Whistleblowing Report to the RA directly should also complete and submit the RA Complaints Form. Additionally, we can arrange to meet with you in person to discuss your concerns, but we will need some initial information before meeting with you.

Any information that you share with us will be stored securely and we limit access to this information.

It will be helpful to have your contact details (name and email address or telephone number, for example) because we may need to ask you more questions or follow up on the information provided.

If you choose to disclose your identity to the RA, your details will be held in confidence. However, it is not mandatory to disclose your identity, the RA will still accept and process your information if you want to remain anonymous.

To enable the RA with assessing your report as effectively as possible, it will be helpful to understand the following details, where they are already known:

• the relevant company or individuals name you are reporting

• the suspected wrongdoing and who it is affecting

• the impact of the suspected wrongdoing

• who is involved and where it is taking place

• how long it has been going on or when it is expected to occur

• if you have in your possession documents that you can share with the RA

We will process any reports made anonymously in accordance with our complaints handling procedures and an acknowledgement of receipt will be provided where we have received valid contact information, but no further information will be given thereafter.

Further information on how the RA handles Whistleblowing Reports can be found in the Whistleblower Protection Regulations 2024.

Disclaimer

Please note that the RA cannot provide you with any legal advice regarding your complaint nor can it act as legal counsel with respect to any dispute you might have with the subject of your complaint.