Capital Markets

The UAE’s 2014 upgrade from frontier to emerging market status by the MSCI is a major accomplishment for the state and one that has brought both more liquidity and greater international attention. Rules for listings are being relaxed to encourage more private sector companies to join the exchange, particularly SMEs, and a spot gold contract is due to be launched in the near future. In 2013 the emirate announced an ambition to crown itself as the capital of the global Islamic economy, and the Dubai NASDAQ is currently the third-largest market for sukuk worldwide in terms of capitalisation.