The new hire, Raymond Pither, has around 25 years’ experience in designing and operating international compliance systems and is particularly familiar with the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the EU. He was formerly the global compliance office for The Fry Group until 2015.
Globaleye chairman Tim Searle said the appointment was very timely given the recent announcement by the UAE Insurance Authority last month of tighter rules on advisers.
These include the introduction of a formal registration process and new regulations on the sale of savings, investment and insurance policy products.
The IA said it also plans to ban indemnity commissions in most circumstances and require firms to perform rigorous checks on employees in terms of suitability, qualification and experience.
Strategic move
Globaleye’s Searle said it was clear that the IA, along with other regulators around the world, will be stepping up enforcement of their expanding regulatory regimes.
“We are strategically building our business in the most heavily regulated financial markets in the world,” said Searle.
“As a mark of our commitment to exceptional service and high ethics, the appointment of Raymond Pither demonstrates our promise to deliver the best possible regulated financial planning advice to our clients.
“Ray brings with him a compliance skill set developed over many years in many jurisdictions which, coupled to Globaleye’s systems and global footprint, is a clear support for the positive direction of the offshore financial services industry.”
Searle adds “It is of critical importance for this industry that operators screen their candidates thoroughly and we only contract with providers that meet the regulations of the territories in which we operate. Considering the latest regulatory news, we anticipate the regulator shares this view and will enforce accordingly to bring the industry in line.”
Compliance hell
Pither, who spent nearly 20 years with The Fry Group, recently likened compliance obligations to one of Dante’s 10 circles of hell.
“Some firms leave compliance system design and operation to back office staff who are already overloaded and not necessarily compliance focused,” he wrote in a social media post.
“It is far better to seek a series of pragmatic solutions from experts who can ‘plug in’ to your systems, tweak them and get the firm back on track.”
