Dubai financial regulator to implement oversight changes after Abraaj collapse

Agencies

March 3, 2019

Mar 3: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) could make changes to its oversight procedures following last year’s collapse of private equity group Abraaj, its chief executive said in a report published on Sunday.

Dubai-based Abraaj was the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa until it collapsed last year in the aftermath of a row with investors, including the Gates Foundation, over a $1 billion healthcare fund.

“The collapse of this firm will influence our thinking on corporate governance, on the allocation of responsibilities amongst the senior management of firms, and on the best way to assign responsibility for compliance within regulated firms,” DFSA Chief Executive Bryan Stirewalt said in the report.

Abraaj, filed for provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands last year. One of Abraaj’s entities was licensed by the DFSA.

If “the DFSA concludes, following our investigations, that there are lessons to be learned, we will take steps to strengthen our supervisory oversight,” Stirewalt said.

“We will also be reviewing our risk-based approach to supervision to ensure that it properly captures some of the features of the particular case.” Last August the DFSA stopped Abraaj Capital Limited (ACL) from taking on new business or moving money to Abraaj Investment Management (AIML) as part of an investigation into the group.

In Sunday’s report, Stirewalt said “the DFSA has for some time been investigating a range of matters in relation to ACL”.

He said the DFSA had taken regulatory action and had assisted liquidators, but that it did not regulate Abraaj Holdings, AIML, or Abraaj’s private equity funds, because they were domiciled in the Cayman Islands.

“We will examine whether our regime addresses correctly the situation where firms locate legal entities providing services to each other in different locations, which can complicate supervision,” Stirewalt said.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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