The physical infrastructure of the Dubai International Financial Centre - the Gate building, its location at the centre of Dubai business district - may be the lure for many firms thinking of location options in the region.
But the DIFC's "soft" infrastructure is often the clincher. No other financial centre in the Middle East can offer its mix of regulatory, legal and arbitration facilities.
At the heart of this "soft" infrastructure are two organisations set up at the very beginning of the DIFC project: the DIFC court system, and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Both were designed to give firms operating in the emirate access to standards of "international best practice" in regulatory supervision and dispute resolution.
The DFSA exists to ensure that DIFC member firms comply with recognised standards with regards to potential market manipulation, insider trading, money laundering and a host of other activities proscribed by its rule book.
Developing those principles was the job of the first two DFSA bosses, David Knott and Paul Koster.
Ian Johnston, the tough Scot who has been the DFSA chief executive since last summer, is putting more emphasis on action.
"I tend to put more emphasis on enforcement," he says. "I think it's in the interests of the financial services industry to have a regulator who's a strong enforcer."
The DFSA has been ready to "name and shame" organisations and individuals that have infringed its regulations, with big-name scalps such as Barclays, Damas and Shuaa Capital all receiving hefty fines.
It has also been in the front line against crimes such as money laundering and terrorism funding.
"The regulator's role here is to detect where possible breaches have taken place and report it to federal UAE authorities," adds Mr Johnston. "The same applies to sanctions against Iran, which we treat very seriously. But I'm convinced that any serious money launderer would not try to do it via the DIFC."
The DIFC Courts were set up to reassure firms and investors that disputes would be judged according to international standards.
They are led by the Singaporean chief justice Michael Wang, a leading light in international business arbitration, with a team of highly qualified and experienced judges, including the first female judge in the UAE and several Emirati judges.
The Courts were entrusted with resolving perhaps the most critical event in Dubai's business history: the resolution of disputes arising from the US$25bn restructuring of Dubai World in 2010. It has also judged hundreds of minor disputes via its small-claims procedures.
fkane@thenational.ae
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
The five pillars of Islam
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Apple product price list
iPad Pro
11" - $799 (64GB)
12.9" - $999 (64GB)
MacBook Air
$1,199
Mac Mini
$799
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOlivia%20Newman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daisy%20Edgar-Jones%2C%20Taylor%20John%20Smith%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20David%20Strathairn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
