Ambit Nexus

Management consultancy

Operational diagnostics and business model design for CMA-licensed capital market firms in the UAE

We diagnose gaps between licensed activities and day-to-day operations. We design business models that fit the firm’s permissions, and we support remediation.

Evidence from the operation, not just the paperwork.

See how we work

Who we support

We support firms licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), including those licensed for dealing in securities (first category) and arrangement and advice (fifth category). We also support firms assessing a new channel, commercial relationship or operating structure before implementation.

The CMA’s powers apply within the UAE, excluding the financial free zones, which have their own regulators.

Services

Four ways we support management

Each service can be scoped on its own or combined.

Operational diagnostics

Six areas of the operation, from licensed conduct to outsourcing, checked against the documents and system records.

Questions it answers

  • Does what the firm does in practice match what it is licensed to do?
  • Where do controls or responsibilities need to change?
The six areas we examine

Review and remediation

A five-step method that produces a prioritised action plan and verifies progress against agreed evidence.

Questions it answers

  • Which gaps matter most, and who owns them?
  • Have the agreed actions closed the gaps?
The five steps of the method

Business model design

A proposed channel, commercial relationship or operating structure is assessed against the firm’s permissions before implementation.

Questions it answers

  • Will this arrangement work in practice and fit the firm’s permissions?
  • What must be resolved before it goes ahead?
How business model design works

Continuing support

Monthly support on agreed priorities and operational changes, and on the progress of remediation.

Questions it answers

  • How does the firm keep remediation on track?
  • Can it demonstrate how its controls operate?
What continuing support covers

What we examine

Six areas where the operation meets its obligations

A policy says what should happen. The records show what did. We compare the two and report where they differ.

  1. Licensed activity and actual conduct

  2. Systems and execution

  3. Introducers and promoters

  4. Client money and operational controls

  5. Contracts and communications

  6. Outsourcing and accountability

The six areas in full

How we work

From evidence to verified remediation

  1. Define the review

  2. Examine the operation

  3. Establish the evidence

  4. Assess the implications

  5. Plan and verify remediation

A gap still open at re-testing sends the work back to step 3, where the evidence is established again.

The method in full

What you receive

What the initial engagement delivers

The initial engagement gives management a view of how the operation works and which gaps matter most, with the decisions needed to address them. One deliverable, the record of the processes and documents we examine, states the limits of testing.

  1. Agreed scope and evidence index

  2. Operating and licence map

  3. Systems and document review

  4. Supported findings

  5. Business model options

  6. Prioritised action plan

  7. Management discussion and closure plan

What each deliverable gives management

Independence and limits

Read how the work is done.

The six areas we examine and the five steps of the method are set out in full.

Our approach