Page 77 - Annual Report 2019

74 ANNUAL REPORT 2019 POLICY AND ENFORCEMENT

Settlement with International Appendix B – Policy and Enforcement
Financial Services (Qatar) LLC Summary of CDRS complaints 1 January – 31 December 2019
The Regulatory Authority agreed a settlement with
International Financial Services (Qatar) LLC (IFSQ) to impose
a financial penalty of US$100,000 and accept reasonable
costs of its investigation. The investigation found that during CDRS Complaints
the period May 2016 to January 2018, IFSQ had failed to 85
implement properly the policies, procedures, systems
and controls required under the Anti-Money Laundering
and Combatting Terrorist Financing Rules 2010.
Customer Dispute Resolution Scheme

An internal complaints-handling framework has always
been a requirement for authorised firms in the QFC. Where
customer complaints are not satisfactorily resolved by Out of scope CDRS Jurisdiction
a firm’s internal framework, customers can seek redress
through an external independent adjudication process, 37 48
the Customer Dispute Resolution Scheme (CDRS), which
has been in operation since 2014. The CDRS has resulted
in a number of successful outcomes for customers.

In support of the Regulatory Authority’s aim to update
the customer and investor protection framework,
draft Customer Dispute and Resolution Scheme Carried forward Final decision Closed Satisfied
Rules 2018 were distributed for consultation in 2018. 03 05 32 08
The draft rules introduced comparatively minor rule
amendments to improve the clarity and timeliness of
the scheme’s operation. Public consultation on the draft
rules concluded in January 2019 and comments from
firms and individuals were addressed. The rules were
issued in 2019 and commenced on 1 January 2020.