Dubai regulator fines Moody's Middle East unit $585,825 over confidentiality failures

Centre · 2The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has fined Moody's Investors Service Middle East Limited $585,825 (Dh2.15 million) for failing to adequately protect confidential information. 1 2 Centre · 1The regulator said the credit rating agency had insufficient systems and controls to safeguard data confidentiality and failed to ensure that employees did not disclose confidential information. 1 Centre · 2Between December 2023 and May 2026 the company reported seven incidents of inadvertent data disclosure to the DFSA, four of which involved confidential data being disclosed to external recipients. 1 2

Centre · 1The company agreed to settle and received an early settlement discount; without it the fine would have been $836,892, the regulator said. 1 Centre · 1The DFSA identified several causes, including the company discontinuing a data security tool without immediately replacing it, inadequate systems to prevent and detect breaches, and ineffective internal disciplinary processes for employees responsible for breaches. 1 Centre · 2The unit, abbreviated Mismel by The National, has held a DFSA credit rating agency licence since 2012 and handles large volumes of sensitive data about public and private companies, governments and other counterparties. 2 1

Centre · 2Alan Linning, the DFSA's managing director of enforcement, said rating agencies are entrusted with confidential and market-sensitive data and must protect it from unauthorised access or disclosure, which could harm the integrity, stability and orderly functioning of financial markets. 1 2 Centre · 1The National places the fine among other recent DFSA actions: a $210,000 fine on former financier Gary Joseph Peters, a $454,367 fine on Hayman-Woodward Global Mobility Services, and a Dh401,000 penalty on Vault Wealth. 2 Centre · 1The DFSA said full details are in a decision notice in the regulatory actions section of its website. 1