EFG-Hermes becomes first regional Member of DIFX

EFG-Hermes, one of the leading investment banks in the region, was last year licensed as an authorised firm in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, Chief Executive Officer of EFG-Hermes UAE commented: "The DIFX is great news for us and our investors and announces a new era for the financial industry in the region. The possibilities will be tremendous as the market establishes a broad breadth of product range."

Welcoming EFG-Hermes, Henry Azzam, Chairman of the DIFX, commented:

"The arrival of such a high quality financial institution is clear recognition of the DIFX's excellent regulatory standards and the benefit that the exchange brings to the region."

He continued: "The DIFX will enhance capital mobility in the region and attract new international capital. It will create additional regional and international opportunities at the doorstep of institutional investors here. At the same time, it will give issuers of securities access to capital in a financial environment comparable to Hong Kong or London."

Seif Fikry, Head of Brokerage at EFG-Hermes UAE, commenting on the opportunities for clients, said: "Our institutional client base, whether regional or international, will reap the benefit of our membership of the DIFX, which will allow current and future issuers at the exchange to attract sophisticated money. The high standards at the exchange reflect EFG-Hermes' own stringent criteria." He added that DIFX could help create a "regional bias" - regional investors holding regional assets - amongst institutional investors.

EFG-Hermes has joined the DIFX as an Individual Clearing Member.

The exchange now has eight Members. The others are Barclays Capital Securities, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe), Citigroup Global Markets, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Morgan Stanley & Co International, and UBS.

Sherif Cararah, Global Head of Brokerage for the EFG-Hermes Group added: "Our membership of DIFX, joining our three existing brokerage seats in the region, is another step towards achieving our strategic plan for extending EFG-Hermes' brokerage franchise regionally, which we embarked on two years ago."

According to Nasser Alshaali, Chief Operating Officer of the DIFX, "The development of the DIFX is gathering pace. We expect more financial institutions to join us as Members and more issues to come to market over the coming months."