DUBAI, 7 October 2003 — Smith Barney, the financial services giant owned by Citigroup, has closed down its brokerage activities in Dubai following warnings by the country’s Central Bank, according to documents obtained Sunday.
Smith Barney’s operating license precluded financial consultancy and brokerage but the firm continued to provide these services despite official warnings, according to Central Bank documents obtained by The Associated Press.
A Central Bank examination that ended in February 2002, about a year after Smith Barney opened in the United Arab Emirates, concluded that the firm was in violation of its operating license, which allowed only a “representative” office in Dubai.
“You are required to stop these activities immediately and confine the office activity to that of representative offices,” the Central Bank warned the company.
