The Financial Times and DIFC announce speakers for World Financial Centres Summit

Notes and media contacts

Registration for the FT/DIFC World Financial Centres Summit is now open on the event website -- www.ftconferences.com/wfcs2007 -- or at www.difcweek.ae.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Financial Times
Jo Crosby
Communications Manager
Financial Times
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7873 3811

Emma Gilpin-Jacobs
Global Communications Director
Financial Times
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7873 4447

DIFC

For event enquiries:
Kirstie Hepburn
Dubai International Financial Centre
Tel: +971 4 362 2437

For corporate enquiries:

Amira Abdulla
Dubai International Financial Centre
Tel: +971 4 362 2433

Shaima Al Zarouni
Dubai International Financial Centre
Tel: +971 4 362 2432

About the Financial Times:

The Financial Times Group, one of the world's leading business information companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. The FT Group includes:
1. The Financial Times, one of the world's leading business newspapers, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing extensive news, comment and analysis, the newspaper is printed at 24 print sites across the globe, has a daily circulation of 426,830 (ABC figures, August 2007) and a readership of more than 1.3 million people worldwide.
2. FT.com is one of the world's leading business information websites, and the internet partner of the FT newspaper. Since its relaunch in May 2002, the website has continued to be the definitive home for business intelligence on the web, providing an essential source of news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community. FT.com attracts 5.29 million unique monthly users (ABC electronic figures, January 2007) generating 40.4 million page views and has 100,000 subscribers.
3. The FT Group's pan-European network of national business newspapers and online services including France's leading business newspaper and website, Les Echos and lesechos.fr. In February 2000, the FT launched a new German language newspaper, FT Deutschland, with a fully integrated online business news and data service.
4. Through FT Interactive Data, the FT Group is one of the world's leading sources of securities pricing and specialist financial information to global institutional, professional and individual investors. Its products include eSignal, an online realtime streaming quotation service for brokers and active traders.
5. FT Business, which produces specialist information on the retail, personal and institutional finance industries. It publishes the UK's premier personal finance magazine, Investors Chronicle, and The Banker, Money Management and Financial Adviser for professional advisers.
6. The Mergermarket Group, whose products and services provide the global advisory and corporate communities with intelligence and analysis. With regional head offices in London, New York and Hong Kong and 200 journalists in 46 locations worldwide, reliable and validated proprietary intelligence and historical data is provided via the mergermarket, dealReporter, Debtwire and wealthmonitor on-line platforms.
7. The Financial Times Group also has a stake in a number of joint ventures, including;
• FTSE International, a joint venture with the London Stock Exchange.
• Vedomosti, Russia's leading business newspaper and a partnership venture with Dow Jones and Independent Media
• A 50% stake in BDFM, publishers of South Africa's leading financial newspapers and websites.
• A 50% stake in The Economist Group, which publishes the world's leading weekly business and current affairs journal.
• A 13.85% stake in Business Standard, one of India's leading financial newspapers.
The FT Group is part of Pearson plc, the international media group.

About DIFCweek:

DIFCweek, the first event of its kind in the Middle East, will focus on Financial Opportunities for the Third Millennium. The week of conferences will address every principal topic in the international financial arena, all viewed from a fresh perspective.

DIFCweek will present some of the world's most thought-provoking speakers, covering the challenges and opportunities in the world's current and emerging financial markets. Sharing in the debate will be hundreds of senior industry practitioners, corporate decision-makers and regulatory and government officials.
The week will turn the financial agenda on its head: it is not about what the industry is talking about today, but what it will be discussing tomorrow.


About the DIFC:

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is an onshore hub for global finance. It bridges the time gap between the financial centers of Hong Kong and London and services a region with the largest untapped emerging market for financial services.

In just under two years, over 400 firms have registered at the DIFC. They operate in an open environment complemented with world-class regulations and standards. The DIFC offers its member institutions incentives such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero tax on income and profits and no restrictions on foreign exchange. In addition their business benefits from modern infrastructure, operational support and business continuity facilities of uncompromisingly high standards.

The DIFC is made up of the following core bodies:

1. The DIFC Authority (DIFCA) - Responsible for the Companies and Security Registries and attracting financial as well as non-financial institutions to set up in the DIFC. The DIFC Authority is also responsible for developing the financial services industry. (www.difc.ae)

2. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) - An independent, unitary regulatory authority, responsible for the regulation of all DIFC operations. Its principle-based primary legislation is modeled on that used in London and New York and its regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those in major financial centers. (www.dfsa.ae)

3. The DIFC Courts - An independent court system set up to uphold the provisions of DIFC laws and regulations, the courts provide comprehensive legal redress in civil and commercial matters within the DIFC. The DIFC Courts system is especially designed to deal with all of sophisticated transactions that will be conducted within DIFC. The DIFC Court laws, based on the common law, not only sets out the jurisdiction of the court but also provides for a dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation, thus allowing for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC. (www.difccourts.ae)

DIFC Investments- The creation of DIFC Investments will result in the allocation to it of all non public administration activities previously carried out by DIFC Authority. This will include amongst other things all commercial and other activities such as the operation and management of any current and future subsidiaries, the development of the centre's investment strategy and relevant policies and any other strategic investments or alliances which will further the goals and objectives of the Dubai International Financial Centre and contribute to the fulfillment of the Centre's vision. Some of the companies and organizations that DIFC Investments owns include:

4. The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) The DIFX is the region's first international financial exchange for equities, bonds, Islamic products, funds, index products and (subject to regulatory approval) derivatives. The target areas of the DIFX for seeking issuers include the Middle East and North Africa, as well as South Africa, Turkey and the Indian sub-continent. The regulator of the DIFX is the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The DIFX is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its owner is the DIFC Authority. (www.difx.ae)

5. Hawkamah- the first Institute for Corporate Governance in the region, has been established in partnership with a group of international institutions, including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry, Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), Dubai School of Government (DSG), Young Arab Leaders (YAL), and the Institute of Management Development (IMD). (www.hawkamah.org).