EFG-Hermes is granted Saudi license

Notes and media contacts

About EFG-Hermes
EFG-Hermes is the leading integrated investment bank in the Arab world, with strong positions in all its key lines of business; Brokerage, Investment Banking, Asset Management, and Private Equity. Through its headquarters in Cairo and regional operations in the UAE, EFG-Hermes provides a wide range of superior financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals.

About EFG-Hermes Investment Banking
EFG-Hermes is the leading investment banking operation in the Arab region, and has helped raise some USD4.6 billion of equity funding for its clients and has advised on over USD12.80 billion of M&A transactions since 1997. The firm clients have included Nestle, Kraft foods, American Express, Pepsi Co., Heineken, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., HSBC, and GlaxoSmithKline.

About EFG-Hermes Asset Management

EFG-Hermes played a pioneering role in bringing specialist fund management to the region, and today ranks among the leading managers of funds dedicated to the Middle East and North Africa region. EFG-Hermes Asset Management manages seven Egyptian mutual funds as well as four off-shore funds, with assets under management of around USD1 billion.

About the DIFC:

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

In just over one year, more than a hundred top international institutions have joined the DIFC as members. 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. (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 modelled on that used in London and New York, and its regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those in major financial centres. (www.dfsa.ae)

3. The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) - A liquid and transparent electronic market trading securities, bonds and derivatives, launched in September 2005, the DIFX eases access to regional and international investment opportunities and funds. (www.difx.ae )

4. 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 laws, enacted by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum provide for a new court system designed especially for the DIFC and the sophisticated transactions that will be conducted within it.

• The law establishing the Judicial Authority at the DIFC creates and sets out the jurisdiction of the court and provides for a dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation, thus allowing for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC; and

• The DIFC Courts Law sets out the jurisdiction, powers, procedures, functions and administration of the court. ( www.difccourts.ae )

For more information, kindly contact:
Tala Toukan or Tania Atallah
Hill and Knowlton
Telephone: 00971 4 3344930