Dubai regulator fines Moody's Middle East unit Dh2.15m over data breaches

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has imposed a Dh2.15 million fine on Moody's Investors Service Middle East Limited (Mismel) for failing to protect confidential data over a two-year period. The regulator uncovered seven incidents of inadvertent data disclosure between December 2023 and May 2026, all of which involved confidential information related to Mismel's customers such as public and private companies, governments, and other counterparties.

Mismel, licensed by the DFSA since 2012, was found to lack adequate systems and controls to prevent unauthorized disclosures by its employees. The seven violations included incidents where confidential data was disclosed to external recipients, an essential responsibility of credit rating agencies, as explained by DFSA's managing director for enforcement, Alan Linning.

He emphasized that these agencies are entrusted with sensitive and market-sensitive data, which must be safeguarded from unauthorized access or disclosure to maintain the stability and integrity of financial markets. The UAE authorities have been proactive in enforcing regulations to ensure the financial system's reliability and integrity.

Recently, the DFSA fined former financier Gary Joseph Peters $210,000 for providing false, misleading, and deceptive information and failing to produce documents. Additionally, the authority imposed a Dh454,367 penalty on the Dubai unit of Hayman-Woodward Global Mobility Services for unauthorized services and a Dh401,000 fine on wealth management services firm Vault Wealth for unauthorized transactions.