How long must licence applicants keep back-up copies of records?

Licence applicants must establish comprehensive record-keeping procedures covering electronic and non-electronic records relating to the licensed body, technical guides and regulations, regulated activities, client transactions and data, account-opening agreements and other information connected with conducting financial activities. The CISI UAE Financial Rules and Regulations requires the mechanisms to permit retrieval of archived records within no more than three business days. More importantly for this question, the procedures must ensure that records are maintained securely for not less than ten years , with back-up copies retained for the same ten-year period and protected against damage or loss. This is distinct from the five-year retention period imposed by AML legislation for certain transaction and customer due-diligence records. The question concerns the broader record-keeping obligations of applicants for a financial-activities licence, where the ten-year requirement applies. Retention is therefore neither dependent on how long an individual client wishes records to remain available nor simply tied to the firm's entire corporate existence. The minimum specified period is ten years, making option D correct.

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