DFSA scraps regulatory fees on ESG listings on Nasdaq Dubai

Dubai’s financial regulator has waived all regulatory fees for issuers wishing to list sustainability-related debt securities in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) throughout 2024.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) said the fee waiver is effective immediately and will apply throughout 2024.

The waiver, which was announced at COP28, underscores the regulator’s long-standing commitment to accelerating the growth of sustainable capital markets in the DIFC since the publication of its first set of guidelines for listing green bonds and sukuk in 2018.

“As we approach the conclusion of the ‘Year of Sustainability’, declared by the UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and with the UAE’s Presidency of COP28, the DFSA reaffirms its continued commitment to encouraging companies to transition towards issuing green and sustainability bonds and sukuk for financing environmentally and climatically sustainable projects,” said Ian Johnston, chief executive of the DFSA.

The waiver applies to all new and repeat issuers who make a relevant application to the DFSA.

Nasdaq Dubai, the DIFC’s exchange, has emerged as the world’s largest ESG sukuk market with more than 60 per cent of US-denominated ESG sukuk and close to 50 per cent of all-currencies ESG sukuk.

To further mobilise and bolster the sources of financing for sustainable projects in the UAE and the wider region, the fee waiver applies to all ESG-related bonds and sukuk labelled as green, social, sustainable, sustainability-linked, climate, climate adaptation, climate transition, or similar.

DFSA boost green finance

Meanwhile, UAE authorities have been encouraging issuers to raise green debt as the country is hosting the COP28 climate conference, which kicked off on November 30.

The Securities and Commodities Authority said in June that companies would be exempted from listing fees on the local market this year for green or sustainability-linked bonds or sukuk.

UAE national banks are also advancing sustainable financing and climate initiatives, as part of the government’s broader strategy to promote sustainable economic growth ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year.

The UAE’s top six biggest banks – First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreq, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – allotted more than $51.8bn (Dhs190bn) in sustainable initiatives in 2022.

FAB has committed $75bn in green financing from 2022 to 2030, with over $20bn already funded as of mid-2023 while Mashreq provided $20bn in sustainable financing in the first half of the year and is on track to achieve its goal of $30bn by 2030.

Read: COP28: UAE financial sector commits to mobilising Dhs1tn in sustainable finance