Quote from doublechin:
They have an exclusion zone financial district for foreign financial companies etc with companies exempt from foreign ownership rules and other hinderances....
"The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is an onshore capital market designated as a financial free zone designed to create a unique financial services cluster economy for wealth creation initiatives.
There are six primary sectors of focus within the DIFC: Banking Services (Investment Banking, Corporate Banking & Private Banking); Capital Markets (Equity, Debt Instruments, Derivatives & Commodity Trading); Asset Management & Fund Registration (Fund Registration, Fund Administration & Fund Management); Reinsurance; Islamic Finance and Back Office Operations.
Licence applications are being considered from financial institutions in the above sectors. Each of these units will offer benefits such as zero tax on income and profits, 100 per cent foreign ownership, no restrictions on foreign exchange or capital/profit repatriation, operational support and business continuity facilities."
Sign me up!
I'm assuming their focus is to create a financial hub to attract the billions of middle eastern petro dollars that are invested worldwide every year. It is already a de facto financial hub for all types of illicit activities, esp. of the South Asian economies. The recent raging poppy trade being one of the major ones.
Nevertheless, its location puts it conveniently astride two of the largest future economic zones/markets, the Eurozone and the Asians. It's an appealing prospect timezone wise if one has to trade both markets. Hong Kong and Shanghai are +4 hours and London is -4 hours from Dubai. The other major Asian and European markets fall in between.
