Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (WAM)
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has affirmed that marketing services and products under its purview, particularly those related to securities and commodities trading in the UAE, through phone calls is considered a violation if the company has not obtained prior approval from the SCA to engage in marketing activities.
In a circular issued on Monday, the SCA urged all recipients of marketing calls related to securities and commodities trading in the UAE to report any calls that violate the provisions and regulations stipulated in the decision.
The authority clarified that this comes within the framework of its keenness to ensure that companies adhere to the provisions and regulations stipulated in the Cabinet decision regarding the regulation of marketing through phone calls, and in its endeavour to control violations and practices that contravene the provisions of the decision.
How to verify
The SCA indicated that the public can verify whether companies have obtained a licence from the authority by visiting its website to ensure that the company is on the list of licenced companies to carry out this activity, and that the public can report violating companies through the “Reporting capital market violations” service available on its website.
The authority highlighted that companies are prohibited from using marketing practices that exert undue pressure on customers to purchase products or services, as well as engaging in deceptive or misleading marketing. Additionally, making marketing phone calls outside the allowed hours of 09:00 to 18:00 is also considered a violation.
The violations also include not using local numbers issued by licenced telecommunications companies in the UAE and not registering those numbers under the company's commercial licence when making marketing calls, in addition to receiving marketing calls from the company despite registering in the Do Not Call Registry (DNCR).
SCA has issued a circular to all companies regarding the controls and procedures for telemarketing of securities and commodities trading services in the UAE, which is based on Cabinet Decision No. (56) of 2024 regarding the regulation of telemarketing.
