The Dubai Financial Services Authority has published its ninth Audit Monitoring Report on Registered Auditors in the Dubai International Financial Centre, covering inspection work between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. The main findings were improved inspection outcomes, with a higher proportion of audit engagements rated satisfactory and fewer rated unsatisfactory than in previous cycles, and the first transparency reports published by auditors of Public Listed Companies under DFSA rules. The report says this makes the DFSA the first audit regulator in the United Arab Emirates to require those disclosures. The cycle covered 26 inspections across 93 engagement files. Registered Auditors reported USD 33.5 million in audit fees, up 74% from the prior cycle, logged 10,802 continuing professional development hours, and signed 1,267 financial statement auditor reports and 1,968 regulatory reports, reflecting continued growth in the DIFC audit market. The DFSA highlighted five areas requiring continued attention across the profession: clearly supporting audit opinions, independently challenging investment valuation assumptions and data, assessing related-party transactions against business model and controls, tailoring revenue recognition procedures to specific revenue streams, and updating audit procedures as new risks emerge. It also flagged lower Audit Principal involvement and greater reliance on audit managers as a point of supervisory focus for engagement oversight and tone at the top. The period also saw the DFSA's first thematic review on Audit Working Papers Archiving and Retention and new memoranda of understanding with the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism and the UAE Capital Market Authority. For 2026, the DFSA said inspections will focus on Systems of Quality Management, the use of artificial intelligence in audit, and revenue recognition. A thematic review on governance and culture is planned for 2026-27.

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