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Dubai Financial Market DFM API

dubai-financial-market-dfm-apisource

Use when validating an order for Dubai Financial Market before dispatch: the 10-digit National Investor Number, tick size and per-security price limits under UAE SCA rules, plus illustrative FIX 4.4 framing whose acceptance by DFM is unverified.

Domain
Global Market Integration
Version
1.0.1
Reading
5 min
Hands off to
2
Handed off from
0
License
Apache-2.0
CoversDFM Membership, Trading and Derivatives RulesDubai CSDFIX 4.4 (illustrative framing, DFM acceptance unverified)Python Dataclasses

When to Use

Use this skill in Middle Eastern (GCC/MENA) quantitative trading systems, broker execution engines, and regional market making algorithms submitting orders to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). DFM operates under UAE SCA regulations. Orders require a 10-digit National Investor Number (NIN) issued by Dubai CSD at DFM, prices conforming to the tick structure in force, and prices inside the Upper/Lower Price Limits DFM sets per security.

When NOT to Use

  • As a transport layer. This module validates and builds a message; it opens no session and sends nothing. is_accepted=True means the order passed local checks, never that DFM received it.
  • As a substitute for DFM's member technical specification. DFM's Membership, Trading and Derivatives Rules do not mention FIX at all, and DFM connectivity specs are not public. The field mapping here — notably NIN in Tag 1 — is an unverified illustrative default and must be confirmed with DFM/your broker before production use.
  • With hard-coded reference data. Tick sizes (Rule 16.17(a)(ii)) and Upper/Lower Price Limits (Rule 16.16(a)) are both set by DFM Circular, per security. The defaults here are a starting point, not authority; source current values per instrument.
  • For Nasdaq Dubai without checking currency. Nasdaq Dubai lists USD-denominated (board 200) and AED-denominated (board 210) equity products, and its trading manual is separate from DFM's. Do not assume AED.
  • For derivatives. DFM futures carry different daily limits from cash equities (e.g. single-stock and index futures are published with wider bands); this module is written for listed securities.

Prerequisites

  • DFM session credentials (SenderCompID, TargetCompID) and the broker's member technical specification.
  • National Investor Number (NIN) — a 10-digit number issued by Dubai CSD at DFM (e.g. 1099887766).
  • Instrument ticker symbol (e.g. EMAAR - Emaar Properties, DEWA - Dubai Electricity and Water).
  • Per-security reference data sourced from current DFM circulars: the applicable tick band table and the Upper/Lower Price Limit percentages, plus the benchmark closing price.

Workflow

  1. Investor NIN Validation:
    • Verify a 10-digit numeric National Investor Number. The engine carries it in FIX Tag 1 (Account) — an unverified mapping, see When NOT to Use.
  2. Order Field Validation:
    • Reject an unrecognised side outright. Never coerce it: defaulting an unknown side to SELL silently inverts the order.
    • Reject non-positive or non-integer quantity, non-finite or non-positive price, and any currency outside AED/USD.
  3. Tick Size Regime Audit (structure effective 6 April 2026, all listed equities, ETFs and REITs):
    • $P < 1.00 \implies \text{Tick} = 0.001$.
    • $1.00 \le P < 10.00 \implies \text{Tick} = 0.01$.
    • $10.00 \le P < 50.00 \implies \text{Tick} = 0.02$.
    • $50.00 \le P < 100.00 \implies \text{Tick} = 0.05$.
    • $P \ge 100.00 \implies \text{Tick} = 0.10$.
    • Compare on integer tick counts, not price % tick — neither operand is exactly representable in binary floating point, so modulo misjudges prices at band edges.
  4. Upper/Lower Price Limit Check (DFM Rule 16.16):
    • The band is per security and asymmetric. The commonly reported equity band is $-10%$ limit down / $+15%$ limit up — not $\pm 10%$. Applying a symmetric $\pm10%$ wrongly blocks legitimate orders between $+10%$ and $+15%$.
    • If the benchmark closing price is missing or non-positive, reject (MISSING_REFERENCE_PRICE). A missing benchmark must never mean "skip the band check".
    • Rule 16.16(c): a security in its first Trading Session floats with no limits — opt in explicitly via is_first_trading_session.
    • Rule 16.16(d): for a dual-listed issuer whose principal listing is on a Foreign Market, the benchmark is the foreign market's closing price — supply that as the benchmark rather than flagging the order unbanded.
  5. FIX 4.4 Message Construction: Build an SOH-delimited New Order Single with BodyLength (tag 9) and CheckSum (tag 10) computed per the FIX 4.4 spec, and return a structured DfmOrderExecutionReport. Nothing is transmitted.

Full procedure: see references/workflows.md. Standards reference: see references/standards.md. Printable pre-flight checklist: see assets/checklist.md.

Common Pitfalls

  • Omitting National Investor Number (NIN): Sending FIX order messages without a valid NIN in Tag 1, triggering immediate exchange gateway rejection.
  • Off-Tick Pricing in AED: Submitting order price 7.855 AED on Emaar Properties, violating the 0.01 AED tick step for prices between 1.00 and 10.00 AED.
  • Trading Outside DFM Session Hours: Attempting order entry outside the 10:00 - 14:45 GST continuous session (pre-open from 09:30; DFM trades Monday to Friday). This module performs no session-time check.
  • Omitting the AED 100+ Tick Bracket: A four-tier table ending at "≥ 50 AED → 0.05" accepts 150.05 AED, which is a clean multiple of 0.05 but not of the 0.10 tick DFM requires at and above 100 AED. The order passes local validation and is then rejected by the exchange.
  • Assuming a Symmetric ±10% Band: DFM's limit down and limit up differ. A symmetric ±10% check rejects a legitimate order at +12% — a silent loss of executable flow that looks like a working risk control.
  • Skipping the Band Check When the Benchmark Is Missing: Guarding the price-band check with if prior_close > 0 means absent reference data disables the control entirely and dispatches the order unchecked. Fail closed.
  • Coercing an Unknown Side to SELL: 1 if side == "BUY" else 2 turns a typo, an empty string, or "LONG" into a sell order. Validate against an explicit allow-list.
  • Treating price % tick == 0 as a Tick Check: Binary floating point makes this unreliable at band edges; compare integer tick counts instead.
  • Passing Unsanitised Text into FIX Fields: A cl_ord_id or symbol containing SOH or = forges extra FIX fields — an embedded SOH10=000 injects a premature CheckSum and yields a malformed message. Reject those characters before framing.
  • Reading "built" as "sent": A returned payload is not an acknowledgement. Only a venue Execution Report confirms the order reached DFM.

Verification

  • Instantiate DubaiFinancialMarketApiEngine. Construct order for EMAAR (NIN = 1099887766, Price = 7.85 AED, Qty = 10,000, benchmark = 7.80 AED). Verify NIN passes, the 0.01 AED tick applies, the price sits inside the band, and a FIX 4.4 message is built. Construct an off-tick price (7.855 AED) and verify INVALID_TICK_SIZE.
  • Verify 150.05 AED is rejected (0.10 tick applies at and above 100 AED) while 150.10 AED is accepted.
  • Verify 8.58 AED against a 7.80 benchmark is accepted (+10%, inside a +15% limit up) and 8.98 AED is rejected.
  • Verify a missing benchmark returns MISSING_REFERENCE_PRICE rather than being accepted.
  • Verify side="LONG" returns INVALID_ORDER_FIELD and builds no payload.
  • Verify tag 9 and tag 10 in the raw message match a from-spec recomputation.
  • Run python -m unittest discover -s skills/dubai-financial-market-dfm-api/scripts.

Verify it, from the repository root

python -m unittest discover -s skills/dubai-financial-market-dfm-api/scripts

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