The Dubai International Financial Corporation is in talks with many India-focused financial services majors, including those from the alternative fund industry, to establish their presence in its over 110 acre onshore centre.
The list includes hedge funds, venture capital, private equity capital and property funds. Top officials of DIFC, which has enacted the collective investment law to provide legal framework covering different funds, in a recent visit to the country, held discussions with leading financial houses and urged them to set up offices at the centre, said R E Sandy Shipton, head of asset management at DIFC.
ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra have already set up offices in DIFC, where a total of 73 global firms, including the likes of ABN-Amro, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs International, Franklin Templeton Investment, Citigroup Global Markets, Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank, have begun operations.
The large non-resident Indian community in Dubai and the Gulf region is a major attraction for Indian companies to establish presence in DIFC, Shipton said, pointing out that the presence of India-focused funds in DIFC would also help NRIs in the region to make substantial investments in the Indian markets through DIFC-based entities.
Conceived by the government of Dubai, DIFC offers full-fledged onshore capital market, comparable to Hong Kong, London and New York, he said, adding that the participants get highly attractive investment environment, including 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero-rate tax and freedom to repatriate capital and profits without restrictions.
The facilities, along with tax concessions, would attract companies to DIFC, especially those from offshore tax havens, such as Mauritius and Cayman Islands, Shipton hoped.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority, an independent regulatory and supervisory body, would regulate the activities of financial institutions in DIFC, he said, adding that funds within the centre had advised on $25.9 billion worth acquisitions from Gulf Cooperation Council region to the UK, Europe and North America.
Similarly, the Dubai International Financial Exchange, which is an electronic financial market trading in securities, bonds and derivatives, located at the DIFC, is also attracting Indian companies, he added.
