Lord Mayor of London welcome's DIFC at Linklaters seminar

• ‘huge amount London and Dubai can gain from doing business together’
• ‘transparency…will be a guiding principle’

The Lord Mayor of London, Robert Finch, today welcomed senior figures from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) at a seminar hosted at top International Law Firm, Linklaters.

During his address he noted that he was fascinated to see how much had been achieved so far by the DIFC to develop and enhance international business and highlighted the shared foundations of the world’s most established capital market and the world’s newest.

“…there is a huge amount that London and Dubai can gain from doing business with one another.

Many of those gains, of course, will build upon the shared foundations of our financial and business communities. Our shared free market values, our shared standards of transparency in business practices and above all our shared respect for the rule of law, which underpins our business.”

The Lord Mayor, who is also a partner of Linklaters, went on to state the importance of transparency and legal certainty,

“…we in London have found that international companies really do come to the centres which can offer them transparency and legal certainty in their commercial transactions; I know that this is a guiding principle for the new centre in Dubai.”

Robert Finch concluded his speech by addressing member firms of the DIFC,

“We welcome firms from the DIFC to our markets and we look forward to a close and thriving relationship with you in the future.”

Commenting on the endorsement of the Lord Mayor of London, Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Director General of the DIFC said,

“The DIFC’s credibility amongst the international business community is a critical component of its success and the words of the Lord Mayor confirm that the City of London is already taking note of the opportunity the DIFC will provide.

“I am thrilled that the Lord Mayor has highlighted the similarities between the regulatory environments of London and the DIFC. We have sought to develop a framework based on the world’s leading jurisdictions and his words endorse our success in this area.”

The DIFC Seminar was held at Linklaters in the City of London. Attended by an audience of senior City figures, presentations were also made by Sandy Shipton, DIFC Head, Asset Management, Kevin Birkett, DIFC Director, Asset Management and Essam Al Tamimi, Al Tamimi & Company.