UK - Dubai partnership set to boost UK financial exports

www.thecityuk.com - Companies across the UK are set to benefit from a new partnership between the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC) and TheCityUK.

The DIFC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with TheCityUK to share financial, legal and regulatory expertise, collaborating on areas of mutual interest including closer links on education, training and qualifications. The agreement is expected to provide a significant boost to UK exports in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) already accounts for £3.9 billion of UK exports. (source)

LUXEMBOURG - DIFC and Luxembourg for Finance discuss potential collaboration to develop the financial services industry in the GCC

WWW.WAM.AE -  Dubai, 31st Jan. 2012 (WAM) -- The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the region's emerging markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, hosted "Luxembourg and Dubai, a partnership for financial services", in collaboration with Luxembourg for Finance, a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg Government and the Luxembourg Financial Industry Federation that is responsible for the development of the financial sector in the Grand Duchy. (source)

SPAIN - FINANCE - Dubai's DIFC hosts seminar to strengthen economic and financial cooperation between UAE and Spain

Business Intelligence Middle East - UAE.  The Dubai International Financial Centre ("DIFC”), the financial and business hub connecting the region’s emerging markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, today hosted “UAE and Spain: Economic and Financial Cooperation”, an investment conference held in association with the Madrid Centro Financiero (“MCF”). (source)

UK - DIFC based Hawkamah partners with Islamic Finance Council UK to organize Shariah scholar training programme in Dubai

Dubai International Financial Centre-based Hawkamah, Institute for Corporate Governance, has partnered with the Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) to trial a unique training programme which provides tailored conventional markets training for Shariah scholars. The programme is exclusively tailored for Shariah scholars and those involved with the Shariah assurance process and has been run successfully in London, Bahrain and Kuala Lumpur. 

The IFC Scholar Professional Development Programme, developed by the IFC, a UK based not-for-profit, and assisted by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Institute (CISI), provides a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) approach comprising of relevant and structured learning activities on conventional markets. (source)

EUROPE - Dubai Exports Islamic Finance to Europe

While the conventional financial system is recovering from the fallout of the international financial crisis Islamic finance on the other hand is growing rapidly. Statistics show that global Islamic banking assets have grown approximately 10% per annum from the mid 1990s when they were about US$150 billion. 

 

Today, global Islamic financial assets stand at approximately US800 billion. Industry experts claim that over the next decade the sector may reach US$4 trillion. The growth of Islamic Financial Services has been driven by a growing Islamic population that is enjoying a rapid rise in purchasing power, due to better education and employment opportunities. This has been supported by financial engineering and innovation in the provision of Islamic financial products and services. (source)

FRANCE - Paris EUROPLACE International Financial Forum 2010 / DIFC - Dubai

For further information on the 2010 Dubai/Paris EUROPLACE Financial Forum, please visit the website: www.paris-europlace.net/dubai2010/

Paris EUROPLACE, the association representing the global finance, investment and related business community of Paris, France and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the UAE-based financial and business centre and gateway between the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region (MEASA) and the world, have jointly organized today their first International Paris EUROPLACE Financial Forum in Dubai. This event is being held following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between DIFC and Paris EUROPLACE in January 2009 to strengthen the links between the two financial market places.

FRANCE - France ready to issue first Islamic bond next year

DUBAI — France will be ready to issue the first Islamic bond issue early next year as the legal framework is in final stage, a former special adviser to financial affairs at the French Treasury said in Dubai on Wednesday.

“We still have to work on some issues for it [Islamic bond or sukuk] but it’s a matter of weeks and then we will be ready in the beginning of 2011,” Thierry Dissaux, who is also Chief Executive of the French Deposits Guarantee Fund, told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of a financial forum in Dubai on Wednesday.

FRANCE - France aims to secure 10% of Islamic Finance industry

How can France partner up with the GCC banking industry and become a key player in Islamic Finance? This was the topic of a DIFC conference held today in Dubai, initiated by the DIFC Authority and Paris EUROPLACE, a government-backed initiative to promote the French banking industry worldwide. While banks in the UK entered into the lucrative Sharia banking industry more than ten years ago, French regulators have been dealing with the topic since 2007, when the French Market Authority accepted Sharia Funds.