Thursday, May 02, 2013
(This story was originally published on Wednesday.)
By Asa Fitch and Leila Hatoum
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi is putting in place a financial regulator and commercial court system for its new financial free zone on Al Maryah Island, where foreign companies are also to be allowed to fully own businesses without a local partner, according to a statement from the emirate's Executive Council Wednesday.
The move follows a federal decree in February that paved the way for the establishment of a free zone on Al Maryah, the site of the city's new financial business district. The zone, officially named the Global Marketplace Abu Dhabi, is expected to compete with the nine-year-old Dubai International Financial Centre just an hour and a half's drive away.
The Executive Council, a key policy-setting arm of the government, said U.A.E. president and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a decree on Wednesday outlining the establishment of three independent authorities to oversee the free zone: a financial services regulations bureau, a court system to mediate commercial disputes and a registration bureau.
The new law also exempts companies and employees in the free zone from taxation for 50 years. It allows foreign companies or people who do not reside in the U.A.E. to fully own businesses in the zone.
Write to Asa Fitch and Leila Hatoum at asa.fitch@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-05-13 0338GMT
