If you’re thinking of getting a financial services job in Dubai, you might want to pay special attention to the judgement of a court case that was reached last month.
The case concerned four Dubai-based financial advisors who wanted to move from one firm to another, and highlights the difficulty of moving jobs when your previous employer is able to impede your visa and prevent you from travelling overseas.
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The advisors – Stuart Ritchie, Mauro De Santis Bo, Yazmin Boden, and Craig Ritchie – decided in 2022 that they wanted to switch employers, from AES International, a Dubai-registered brokerage firm, to GSB Capital, a rival.
AES then accused them variously of photographing and copying secret information, of acting dishonestly and jointly planning their move, of planning to solicit its clients in breach of their employment contract and of making defamatory comments about the company.
All four advisors were working in Dubai under standard work visas sponsored by AES. In order to move from AES to GSB, AES needed to cancel their visas and GSB needed to issue new ones. However, when Craig Ritchie and Yazmin Boden were the first to attempt to move in September 2022, AES refused the cancellation. Ritchie and Boden were therefore unable to take their new jobs and ended up in a “financially strained” position as they had no salaries. Eventually, the managing director of GSB and his wife had to lend them some money.
Worse, though, Sam Instone, the CEO and founder of AES went to the police in Dubai and claimed that the former employees had illegally stolen confidential information and exploited stolen data to contact his clients. Criminal proceedings were then initiated, meaning four employees were subject to a travel ban for 18 months, which was only eventually lifted in April 2024. De Santis Bo only discovered the existence of the ban when he was stopped at the airport, causing him to miss his wedding in Argentina. Boden was unable to leave the UAE to see her family in the UK.
The court eventually concluded last month that almost all the allegations by Instone and AES were groundless. However, it was a process that took almost three years and subjected the four to significant financial and psychological distress. The court heard that Craig Ritchie in particular became “paranoid” due to “legal threats and increasing scrutiny.”
AES was attempting to recoup losses of £8.6m due to GSB’s alleged wrongful acts. The court determined that all its claims should be dismissed. It’s not clear whether the four financial advisors will receive compensation for their trauma, but other people thinking of moving jobs in Dubai may want to take heed.
Instone didn’t respond to a request to comment.
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