The Dubai Financial Services Authority ordered jeweller Damas International to discharge its board and pay penalties, citing irregularities involving cash and gold, Gulf Daily News reported. The watchdog said that an investigation revealed that Damas’s board did not exercise appropriate governance after key executives drew down reserves without approval. The authority noted that the Abdullah Brothers, who it named as Tawhid, Tawfique and Tamjid Abdullah, owed the company $99.4 million cash plus the value of 1,940kg of gold, which is estimated to be worth nearly $71 million at market prices. The regulator’s clampdown underlines a lack of transparency and disclosure in Damas and among some family-owned businesses in the region. Dubai’s watchdog said that this action will remind directors of public firms that they owe a duty to the company and their shareholders, which supersedes any duty they have to their private interests.
