Course 2 · For the SEO, Compliance Officer and MLRO
The Regulated Oil Desk, DIFC Edition
Learn what the DFSA and UAE rules ask of a DIFC firm that trades oil, and of you personally. Written for managers, not lawyers, and worked on one small firm through the 2026 Hormuz year.
- Modules
- 16, about an hour each
- Level
- Professional. No legal training needed
- Format
- Narrated video with subtitles
- Schedule
- Self-paced
- Certificate
- Certificate and CPD log
- Price
- USD 999 per learner
What you'll learn
- Know what the DFSA expects of the SEO personally, and what enforcement looks like
- Run the governance that proves compliance: who answers for what, and the records behind it
- Apply the conduct rules to clients, conflicts, personal dealing and order handling
- Spot market abuse on the DIFC, London and New York venues an oil desk trades
- Own the anti-money laundering and sanctions programme, from customer checks to reports
- Deal with the DFSA: what to tell it, when, and how to handle a visit
- Oversee the fund as its manager, whether it sits in the DIFC or offshore
Skills you'll gain
- DFSA Rulebook
- Corporate governance
- Conduct of business
- Market abuse
- Anti-money laundering
- Sanctions
- Regulatory notifications
- Fund management
How the course teaches
Plain language
Each rule is taught by what it asks of you: what to do, by when, and what record proves it.
Sources on screen
The exact rule reference and Rulebook version are on every slide, for when you need to check.
Real cases
Enforcement cases are told as the regulators and courts published them.
One firm, one year
A fictional DIFC fund manager meets each rule on a real day of the 2026 crisis.
There are 16 modules in this course
Each module has 20 slides: an overview, 16 lessons, 2 timed exercises and a 5-question check. The course closes with a capstone on the firm's whole year.
Module 1 The map: DIFC, the DFSA, the Rulebook and the Senior Executive Officer 56 min
You'll be able to: Place the SEO inside the DIFC legal architecture and state, in plain terms, what the DFSA requires of the SEO personally.
Why it matters: The SEO's own Licensed Function, what it carries, and where every later obligation comes from.
Module 2 The Principles and personal accountability 59 min
You'll be able to: State each Principle, read an oil-desk situation against it, and know what enforcement looks like.
Why it matters: The twelve firm Principles and the seven individual Conduct Principles are the standards enforcement actions cite; the SEO is judged against them personally.
Module 3 Governance: the Governing Body, senior management and the apportionment record 55 min
You'll be able to: Build and defend the firm's governance: the apportionment record, the board's role, the risk framework and the MI the SEO reads.
Why it matters: The Rulebook gives the SEO the job of apportioning responsibilities among senior management and of overseeing the firm's systems and controls.
Module 4 The control functions: Compliance, Internal Audit and the MLRO 54 min
You'll be able to: Know what each control function must be, do and record, and how the SEO oversees them without compromising their independence.
Why it matters: The SEO oversees the establishment and maintenance of systems and controls, and every member of senior management is responsible for AML compliance.
Module 5 Clients: classification, agreements, communications and suitability 56 min
You'll be able to: Classify a prospective investor correctly, paper the relationship, and keep every communication clear, fair and not misleading.
Why it matters: The SEO signs off the client base and the words the firm uses; classification errors and misleading communications are among the conduct failures the enforcement cases in this course turn on.
Module 6 Conflicts, inducements, personal account dealing and research 54 min
You'll be able to: Map the firm's conflicts, write the personal-account-dealing and inducements controls, and decide real requests.
Why it matters: Managing conflicts of interest, inducements and staff dealing is where a small manager's SEO is most exposed personally.
Module 7 Dealing: best execution, allocation, records and the trading-floor rules 54 min
You'll be able to: Run an execution and allocation policy for listed energy derivatives and prove it from records.
Why it matters: The SEO answers for how orders are handled, executed, allocated and recorded.
Module 8 Market conduct one: the DIFC regime 54 min
You'll be able to: State what the Markets Law prohibits as market abuse, how it treats commodity derivatives and conduct outside the DIFC, and recognise the patterns in oil.
Why it matters: The DFSA's market conduct Principles, for the firm and for each individual, make market conduct the SEO's responsibility on every venue the firm touches.
Module 9 Market conduct two: London, New York, the price reporting agencies and the big cases 57 min
You'll be able to: Know which regime governs each venue the firm trades, what the Glencore, Vitol and Arcadia cases teach, and what surveillance a small firm owes.
Why it matters: The firm must guard against market abuse "whether in the DIFC or elsewhere"; the largest oil-market enforcement cases are the FCA's and the CFTC's.
Module 10 AML one: the framework, the risk-based approach and the SEO's responsibility 54 min
You'll be able to: State the AML legal stack, run the business risk assessment and the systems it drives, and know what the SEO must see and sign.
Why it matters: Every member of senior management is responsible for the firm's anti-money laundering compliance, and the SEO must be able to show a working knowledge of it.
Module 11 AML two: customers, CDD, EDD, PEPs and beneficial ownership 56 min
You'll be able to: Risk-rate a customer, choose and evidence the right level of due diligence, and see through the ownership structures an oil desk meets.
Why it matters: Senior management approves high-risk relationships and answers for the CDD standard; the SEO must be able to read a CDD file.
Module 12 Sanctions, Iran, Russia and the shadow fleet 57 min
You'll be able to: Run a sanctions programme for an oil fund and decide what exposure to Iranian- or Russian-linked oil the firm may and may not take.
Why it matters: The DFSA's sanctions rules and the UAE's targeted financial sanctions regime bind the firm and its senior management; an oil desk on the Gulf lives next to the most sanctioned barrels in the world.
Module 13 Suspicion, whistleblowing and the DFSA relationship 56 min
You'll be able to: Run the internal-suspicion, SAR, notification and whistleblowing processes and deal with the DFSA openly.
Why it matters: The SEO decides what the DFSA is told and when; in the enforcement cases this course reads, misleading the regulator made the outcome worse.
Module 14 Prudential, records, outsourcing, resilience, data protection and the calendar 59 min
You'll be able to: Know the prudential, reporting, outsourcing, records, continuity and cyber rules in outline, run the DIFC data protection duties the DFSA does not enforce, and build the firm's regulatory calendar.
Why it matters: The SEO signs the returns, owns the outsourcing and continuity arrangements, keeps the calendar that proves the firm is run, and answers for the obligations that bind the firm without appearing in the DFSA Rulebook, data protection first among them.
Module 15 The fund: the Collective Investment Law, CIR and the Fund Manager 76 min
You'll be able to: State what the Collective Investment Law and CIR require of the Fund Manager of the Desk's fund, and run valuation, redemptions, service providers and fund reporting through a crisis.
Why it matters: Managing a Collective Investment Fund is the Desk's core licence; the Collective Investment Law and CIR make the Fund Manager answerable to the fund's Unitholders for its constitution, valuation, dealing in Units, service providers and reports, and the SEO oversees the systems that deliver them.
Module 16 Toolkit, September 2026 state, capstone 74 min
You'll be able to: Assemble the SEO's operating documents, know the September 2026 supervisory state, and work the capstone case.
Why it matters: Bringing the whole into the SEO's operating model and evidencing competence.
CPD for your role
The DFSA's CPD rule asks the SEO, Compliance Officer and MLRO to complete 15 hours of structured CPD each calendar year, relevant to their role.
This course is built for those three roles. Each module states its objective and its relevance to the role, and the player logs the time you spend.
What you receive
- A certificate of completion
- A training log: date, time spent, mode and result for each module
- A relevance statement for each module
Your firm decides relevance and records the hours. The DFSA does not accredit CPD providers and has not reviewed this course.
How you're assessed
Each module ends with a five-question check. Pass with four of five; you get one retake.
An optional final assessment adds "assessed" to your certificate. The capstone is optional too.
Good to know
The firm in the examples is fictional. Check every example against your own Licence and your own fund.
This is education, not legal advice. Where the course and the Rulebook differ, the Rulebook governs.
Frequently asked questions
Which course is right for me?
Traders, analysts and portfolio managers: Expert Oil Trader, Hormuz Edition. The SEO, Compliance Officer and MLRO: The Regulated Oil Desk, DIFC Edition. Many firms enrol people in both.
Do I need an oil or legal background?
No. The trading course assumes you can read a P&L. The regulatory course assumes you know your business, not the law.
Can I learn at my own pace?
Yes. The courses are self-paced. Start, pause and come back whenever you like; your progress is saved.
Will my firm accept it as CPD?
Both courses are built to the DFSA's CPD rule: structured modules of about an hour, each with an objective and relevance to role, and a log of your time. Your firm decides relevance and records the hours.
Is the course accredited?
No. The DFSA does not accredit CPD providers, so no course can claim DFSA accreditation.
What does the certificate show?
The course, the dates, the CPD time you actually spent, each module with its objective, and any assessment results. You receive it once every module is complete.
How am I assessed?
Each module ends with a five-question check: pass with four of five, with one retake. An optional final assessment adds "assessed" to your certificate.
Can my firm pay by invoice?
Yes. Choose bank transfer at checkout and we email the invoice. For several learners, email contact@theoildesk.com.
Is this investment or legal advice?
No. Both courses are education. Nothing in them is a recommendation to trade, or legal advice for your firm.
Start learning today
USD 999 per learner. Pay by card or invoice. Buying for a team? Email contact@theoildesk.com.