The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has granted its first licence to a hedge fund to operate from within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The licence paves the way for Argent Financial Group International LLP, a UK subsidiary of the Argent Financial Group Ltd and an affiliate of the Argent Funds Group LLC, to launch the first Dubai (DIFC) domiciled fund - the “Constans Crescent Investment Fund” - in April 2006.
The privately held, independent fund and investment managers were originally founded in 1995 with US and UK managed funds. They are currently domiciled in the Caymans and the USA and manage in the region of $2.5 billion in assets over various strategies for onshore and offshore investors.
The Constans Crescent Investment Fund is a geographically focused, multi-strategy fund aimed at investment opportunities in the greater Middle East/North Africa/South Asia region. The fund will concentrate its focus on investing in a broad range of publicly-listed securities in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Levant, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan.
The move was welcomed by Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Director General of the DIFC Authority, who declared it "a very significant development" for the DIFC as it attempts to become the conduit for the region's vast untapped wealth.
"Argent Financial is the first to be licensed specifically for fund management function within the DIFC and, more importantly, to launch a specially designed product focusing on the Middle East," he stated.
"The region has US$1.9 trillion looking for a home and we can now offer varied opportunities to investors and also to organisations looking to raise funds," he observed.
Praising the Dubai authorities' "incredible vision" in creating a zero-tax financial city with its own international regulatory and legal standing, Howard Leedham MBE, Senior Managing Director of Argent Financial Group, predicted that the city will likely become "tomorrow’s global financial powerhouse."
“If any financial company considers itself international, it ignores a presence in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) at its peril," he suggested.
"Argent Financial Group International is not only pleased to announce its intent to manage several Hedge Funds from DIFC, but it sees Dubai as becoming a hub to its entire Group of companies. The possibility of relocating the company’s global headquarters into the DIFC is an evolving and increasingly real consideration," Mr Leedham revealed.
Argent operates funds from offices in London, the USA (5 states), Bermuda, and has a Financial Analyst Platform in Mumbai. The firm intends to commence fund operations in the DIFC immediately.
A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series examining offshore investment, offshore stock exchanges, and hedge funds is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report9.asp
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