Dubai’s DIFC has about 60 hedge fund firms waiting to be licensed: Governor

The Dubai International Financial center (DIFC) has about 60 hedge fund firms, with north of a trillion dollars in assets under management, waiting to be licensed, the governor of the emirate’s financial freezone said on Monday.

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The hedge fund industry is capitalizing on new rules and regulations that have been developed to support the sector, which is one of the sources of DIFC’s growth, Essa Kazim told reporters in a news conference. “A few have already been licensed,” he added.

Millennium Management, ExodusPoint Capital Management and BlueCrest established a presence in Dubai last year, just three of the many funds attracted by lower licensing fees and capital requirements for the industry.

The DIFC registered record breaking growth last year, with the number of active companies in the Gulf’s financial hub up by a fifth year on year to 4377, driven by fintech and innovation firms, Kazim said.

The number of people employed at the DIFC rose 22 percent to 63083 workers, he added.