A series of high-level summits featuring some of the biggest names in international finance will be launched this year under a new partnership between the Financial Times and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The first of three FT/DIFC World Financial Centres Summits will be held in Dubai in November, examining the key developments affecting the world’s leading financial centres and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The second Summit will take place in London in 2008. The venue for the third location is to be determined.
Chief Executive of the Financial Times, John Ridding, said that with competition intensifying among the world’s financial capitals, there is strong interest in a high-level forum to discuss ways to attract capital and investment.
“The balance of power is shifting as new financial centres seek to challenge established players, as market consolidation increases and as regulation evolves”, said Mr Ridding.
“With the importance of establishing the right investment conditions to clinch new floats and listings, we expect strong interest in these global gatherings,” he said.
The summits – following on from the highly successful FT Asian Financial Centres Summit in Seoul in 2006, which attracted Alan Greenspan, Rudolph Giuliani and Gordon Brown – will draw the highest calibre speakers from around the world. Attendance to the event will be by invitation only.
Themes for discussion will include the key success factors for financial centres in today’s increasingly competitive global environment, comparisons between different regulatory regimes, the search for talent and the pressures of consolidation.
The Governor of the DIFC, Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, said that Dubai’s positioning at the crossroads of east and west had been pivotal to the emirate’s growth, and that innovation had also played a crucial role in establishing itself as a financial centre.
Dr Bin Sulaiman said: “The choice to host the first FT/DIFC World Financial Centres Summit in Dubai is reflective of the way in which the emirate has come to epitomise the globalisation of the financial services industry. This meeting, and the two that follow, will provide unique opportunities for industry peers from across the world to exchange ideas, discuss best practices and share strategies for growth. I’m extremely proud that Dubai will host this meeting, which will help bridge existing gaps among financial centres from various regions of the world.”
The 2007 Summit will be the flagship event of DIFC Week in late November.
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times Group, one of the world’s leading business information companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. The FT Group includes:
1. The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business newspapers, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing extensive news, comment and analysis, the newspaper is printed in 23 cities across the globe, has a daily circulation of 440,000 and a readership of more than 1.4 million people worldwide.
2. FT.com is one of the world's leading business information websites, and the internet partner of the FT newspaper. Since its relaunch in May 2002, the website has continued to be the definitive home for business intelligence on the web, providing an essential source of news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community. FT.com attracts 5.5 million unique monthly users (ABC electronic figures March 06), generating 41 million page views and has 84,000 subscribers.
3. The FT Group’s pan-European network of national business newspapers and online services including France’s leading business newspaper and website, Les Echos and lesechos.fr. In February 2000, the FT launched a new German language newspaper, FT Deutschland, with a fully integrated online business news and data service.
4. Through FT Interactive Data, the FT Group is one of the world’s leading sources of securities pricing and specialist financial information to global institutional, professional and individual investors. Its products include eSignal, an online realtime streaming quotation service for brokers and active traders.
5. FT Business, which produces specialist information on the retail, personal and institutional finance industries. It publishes the UK’s premier personal finance magazine, Investors Chronicle, and The Banker, Money Management and Financial Adviser for professional advisers.
6. The Mergermarket Group, whose products and services provide the global advisory and corporate communities with intelligence and analysis. With regional head offices in London, New York and Hong Kong and 200 journalists in 46 locations worldwide, reliable and validated proprietary intelligence and historical data is provided via the mergermarket, dealReporter, Debtwire and wealthmonitor on-line platforms.
7. The Financial Times Group also has a stake in a number of joint ventures, including;
• FTSE International, a joint venture with the London Stock Exchange.
• Vedomosti, Russia’s leading business newspaper and a partnership venture with Dow Jones and Independent Media
• A 50% stake in BDFM, publishers of South Africa’s leading financial newspapers and websites.
• A 50% stake in The Economist Group, which publishes the world’s leading weekly business and current affairs journal.
A 13.85% stake in Business Standard, one of India’s leading financial newspapers.
The FT Group is part of Pearson plc, the international media group.
About the DIFC:
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is an onshore hub for global finance. It bridges the time gap between the financial centers of Hong Kong and London and services a region with the largest untapped emerging market for financial services.
In just under two years, over 321 firms have registered at the DIFC. They operate in an open environment complemented with world-class regulations and standards. The DIFC offers its member institutions incentives such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero tax on income and profits and no restrictions on foreign exchange. In addition their business benefits from modern infrastructure, operational support and business continuity facilities of uncompromisingly high standards.
The DIFC is made up of the following core bodies:
1. The DIFC Authority (DIFCA) - Responsible for the Companies and Security Registries and attracting financial as well as non-financial institutions to set up in the DIFC. The DIFC Authority is also responsible for developing the financial services industry.(www.difc.ae)
2. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) - An independent, unitary regulatory authority, responsible for the regulation of all DIFC operations. Its principle-based primary legislation is modeled on that used in London and New York and its regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those in major financial centers. (www.dfsa.ae)
3. The DIFC Courts - An independent court system set up to uphold the provisions of DIFC laws and regulations, the courts provide comprehensive legal redress in civil and commercial matters within the DIFC. The DIFC Courts system is especially designed to deal with all of sophisticated transactions that will be conducted within DIFC. The DIFC Court laws, based on the common law, not only sets out the jurisdiction of the court but also provides for a dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation, thus allowing for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC. ( www.difccourts.ae)
DIFC Investments- The creation of DIFC Investments will result in the allocation to it of all non public administration activities previously carried out by DIFC Authority. This will include amongst other things all commercial and other activities such as the operation and management of any current and future subsidiaries, the development of the centre's investment strategy and relevant policies and any other strategic investments or alliances which will further the goals and objectives of the Dubai International Financial Centre and contribute to the fulfillment of the Centre's vision. Some of the companies and organizations that DIFC Investments owns include:
1. The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) The DIFX is the region's first international financial exchange for equities, bonds, Islamic products, funds, index products and (subject to regulatory approval) derivatives. The target areas of the DIFX for seeking issuers include the Middle East and North Africa, as well as South Africa, Turkey and the Indian sub-continent. The regulator of the DIFX is the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The DIFX is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its owner is the DIFC Authority. (www.difx.ae)
2. Hawkamah- the first Institute for Corporate Governance in the region, has been established in partnership with a group of international institutions, including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry, Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), Dubai School of Government (DSG), Young Arab Leaders (YAL), and the Institute of Management Development (IMD). (www.hawkamah.org) .
