The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), Euronext, AtosEuronext, LCH.Clearnet and Euroclear announced today that they have signed an MOU to enter into exclusive negotiations for the building of the component parts of the DIFX.
The DIFX is set up as part of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Dubai government's initiative to create a major financial hub for the Middle East region as a whole. The exchange will be a fully electronic marketplace that will trade a wide range of products, including equities, bonds, funds, and derivatives. It is planned that the DIFX will initially concentrate on the trading of equities and bonds, with a derivatives market following later.
The first equities to trade on the exchange will most likely be Dubai-based, being extended thereafter to equities from the broader region and elsewhere. The DIFX also plans to list Islamic instruments, funds and depositary receipts.
DIFX will be regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), an independent unitary regulatory authority, responsible for the regulation of asset management, banking, securities trading, Islamic finance, re-insurance and exchanges operating in the DIFC. The DFSA is being created using principle-based primary legislation modelled closely on that used in London and New York, and its regulatory regime will operate to standards that meet or exceed those in the world's major financial centres. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
