Compass Insurance Brokers in the UAE has had its Insurance Authority licence reinstated reinstated and is back to being a fully functional. after being suspended for around six weeks.
The firm’s licence to operate was withdrawn in January for “breaking IA laws and regulations” according to a note put out by the regulator and seen by International Adviser, though the company claims the problems were largely down to the actions of one of its senior executives.
At the heart of the problem was a client complaint about the miss-selling of a Cayman Island-based fund which had offered a high return with capital protection features.
Compass claims not to have had terms of business with the fund but acknowledged one of its clients had been sold the investment without the knowledge of the management team and that the “email” records of the transaction had been deleted by the executive before the IA could make its checks.
Established in 2006, Compass Insurance Brokers LLC is one of the leading non-resident Indian focused firms in Dubai providing individuals and corporates with advice, financial planning and services to protect, invest and grow their wealth.
New broom
Navin Nihalani, chief executive and managing partner of Compass said: “We are back to being fully functional”.
Nihalani said that full cooperation was given to the IA to investigate the matter thoroughly and that the senior executive was suspended for a period of 2 months. The client has since withdrawn the complaint.
“The regulator has been very understanding and helpful and we are extremely happy to be over this minor hiccup and ready to forge ahead with full vigor.
“We have put in place additional layers of compliance to our systems to ensure full transparency with all our clients and the Insurance Authority.
“We intend to cooperate with the regulator as always and look forward to their guidance and support in developing robust mechanisms to improve organizational efficiencies.
“Our anthem of the year for Compass Financial Solutions is ‘Bigger, Better, Brighter 2019’. The focus is on delivering a better experience to our clients with a team of compliant advisers and products,” he said.
