Dubai: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has been awarded approximately US$143,000 in external and internal legal costs by the Financial Markets Tribunal (FMT) following a reference brought by Al Ramz Capital LLC against a DFSA Decision Notice issued on 13th June 2024.According to the DFSA, the case marks the first time the regulator has sought recovery of its internal legal costs in proceedings before the FMT.The tribunal awarded all internal costs relating to Al Ramz's privacy application, as well as 25 percent of the internal costs claimed by the DFSA for the substantive reference.The DFSA said the ruling reflected the extent to which the FMT accepted its submissions that Al Ramz had acted unreasonably in certain aspects of the proceedings.These included failing to narrow the issues at an earlier stage, pursuing factual arguments with limited prospects of success, and raising an argument concerning subjectivity in suspecting market abuse at a very late stage of the reference rather than during the earlier DFSA Decision Maker process.Alan Linning, Managing Director of Enforcement at the DFSA, said: "The DFSA fully supports the right of firms and individuals to challenge its enforcement decisions and to apply for privacy where appropriate."However, this decision makes clear that where a party pursues arguments unreasonably, or advances arguments it should know have no merit, it may be required to contribute to the DFSA's costs in addition to paying any financial penalty imposed."
