The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ) appointed Sabina Saini and Darine Obeid as financial services attachés in India and the United Arab Emirates today (Monday). Saini is based at the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, while Obeid will work from the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Neither posting carries supervisory powers. The attachés give firms and local regulators a direct FCA contact for cross-border policy and market-entry questions, but the announcement creates no new authorization route.
The appointments extend a network that already includes representatives in Washington, Brussels and Singapore, alongside an Asia-Pacific director based in Australia. FinanceMagnates.com covered the first US and Asia-Pacific appointments in April 2025.
Mumbai Posting Follows GIFT City Agreement
Saini started the Mumbai role on August 10, one week before the announcement. Her remit includes regulatory cooperation with Indian authorities and support for UK firms seeking to operate in India, according to the FCA.
Mumbai was already on the calendar. In February, the FCA exchanged letters with India's IFSCA, the regulator for its international financial services centers. They said an attaché would be placed in Mumbai later in 2026 to support their cooperation.
IFSCA oversees GIFT City, a special financial zone that has attracted international brokers and infrastructure providers. It hosts more than 1,000 registered entities, including 38 global and Indian banks with combined assets above $100 billion, as FinanceMagnates.com reported in January.
Saini joined the FCA in 2024 after more than eight years at the Bank of England. At the FCA, she led work on the UK's critical third parties regime and operational resilience policy.
The new attachés "will advance the UK's interests on financial services policy," said Ruairí O'Connell OBE, the FCA's director of international.
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Abu Dhabi Confirms the Gulf Expansion
Obeid will begin work at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi on August 31. She has spent more than a decade at the FCA, with roles covering retail banking, wholesale banking and fintech supervision.
Her previous work also included financial crime, operational resilience, artificial intelligence and customer outcomes.
The FCA's 2026/27 work program said it planned to expand into India and China, with a UAE presence still described as a possibility. Monday's appointment confirms the Gulf post and places it in a market where more foreign brokers are seeking local permissions.
FinanceMagnates.com has tracked a growing UAE register. Vantage joined Mitrade, PU Prime and Kudotrade in obtaining Capital Market Authority approvals in 2026, while XTB upgraded its permission to fuller brokerage categories in April.
Obeid's role at the embassy is an FCA contact point, not a new UAE regulator or a substitute for local licensing. The work program also calls for an expanded FCA presence in China, but Monday's release did not name a China appointee or start date.
