FTSE opens new offices in Dubai International Financial Centre

DIFC's office will act as a hub for FTSE's growing operations in Africa
First dedicated FTSE office in the region
Dubai 'gateway' to high-growth region

FTSE UAE Emerging Market status brings fund flows

Global, 11June 2013- FTSE Group ("FTSE"), the global index provider, has opened anoffice within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The total number of FTSE offices across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas is now 13. The new office will provide a gateway for FTSE's growing business in the Middle East and Africa.

"The new office will support FTSE's regional presence, bringing FTSE's global expertise to sovereign wealth funds and family offices. It will also act as a hub for FTSE's growing operations in Africa," said Jonathan Cooper, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa."FTSE already works closely with domestic exchanges, market authorities and asset managers in the Middle East and Africa to support the development and capacity of domestic financial markets. This new office will further strengthen our ability to support our growing customer base in the region,"commented Cooper.

Welcoming FTSE into DIFC Community, Jeffery Singer, CEO of DIFC Authority, said: "We, are delighted to be chosen as the hub for the global index provider, FTSE. FTSE has a strong international presence and their decision to establish their regional base in DIFC will provide them with the ideal platform and modern infrastructure they require to further develop and to support financial markets in the Middle East and Africa region".

Since 2010, FTSE has classified the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as 'Secondary Emerging' in its FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS). FTSE has established ongoing dialogues with markets across the region and Kuwait is currently on the FTSE Watch List for inclusion in GEIS as Secondary Emerging. FTSE's country classification system was launched in 2004 following extensive market consultation and assesses each country against a set of 25 broad criteria. Leading ETF provider Vanguard recently transitioned to the FTSE Emerging Index for its (NYSEArca: VWO)Emerging Markets ETF, providing additional inflows to companies listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market and NASDAQ Dubai..

In Africa, FTSE has a long-standing relationship with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and calculates 110 indices across the FTSE/JSE Index Series. FTSE also recently launched the FTSE ASEA Pan Africa Index Series, which represents the performance of eligible securities listed on ASEA (African Securities Exchanges Association) member exchanges.The index series is designed for African investors and to act as a performance benchmark for African equity portfolios.

For more information about the FTSE Country Classification approach please visit: www.ftse.com/Indices/Country_Classification/index.jsp

A recent paper by FTSE notes that Emerging Market growth decoupled from developed market growth in 2000 and IMF projections now show EM growth at 6.2% compared with 2.6% for advanced economies. For more information please visit: www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE_Emerging_Markets/index.jsp

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About FTSE Group
FTSE Group (FTSE) is a world-leader in the provision of global index and analytical solutions. FTSE calculates indices across a wide range of asset classes, on both a standard and custom basis. FTSE indices are used extensively by investors worldwide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation, portfolio hedging and the creation of a wide range of index derivatives, funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and other structured products.

FTSE has built an enviable reputation for the reliability and accuracy of our indices and related data services. FTSE has a long tradition of listening and responding to the market so that it is at the forefront of developing new approaches to index design, many of which are now accepted as the market standard. FTSE prides itself in continuing to invest significant resource in researching and developing new index solutions.

The foundation for FTSE's global, regional, country and sector indices is the FTSE global equity universe, which covers over 7,400 securities in 47 different countries and captures 98% of the world's investable market capitalization. FTSE's flagship global benchmark, the FTSE All-World, is used by investors worldwide to structure and benchmark their international equity portfolios.

Exchanges around the world have chosen FTSE to calculate their domestic indices. These include ATHEX, BorsaItaliana, Bursa Malaysia, Casablanca Stock Exchange, Cyprus Stock Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Nairobi Securities Exchange, NASDAQ Dubai, Singapore Stock Exchange, the Thailand Stock Exchange and Taiwan Stock Exchange.

FTSE is an independent company owned by London Stock Exchange Group.
For more information visit www.ftse.com

About DIFC
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is the financial and business hub connecting the region's emerging markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Since its launch in 2004, DIFC, a purposely built financial free zone, has been committed to encouraging economic growth and development in the region through its strong financial and business infrastructure. Currently, DIFC's client base comprises almost 912 active registered firms, including 21 of the world's top 25 banks, 8 of the world's ten largest insurers, 6 out of 10 top law firms, 11 of the top 20 money managers in the world. Over14 thousand employees operate in an open environment complemented by international legal and regulatory standards. DIFC offers its member companies benefits such as 100 percent foreign ownership, zero percent tax rate, with no restriction on capital convertibility or profit repatriation. DIFC has its own independent financial and ancillary services regulatory body, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). It also has the DIFC Courts, which is an independent common law judiciary based in DIFC with jurisdiction over civil and commercial disputes in or relating to the Centre.DIFC is built upon a modern legal, regulatory and physical infrastructure which makes it the destination of choice for Financial Services firms establishing a presence in the region.

For further information, please visit our website: www.difc.ae, or follow us on Twitter @DIFC.

For further inquiries on DIFC, please contact:
Dubai International Financial Centre
Shaima Al Zarouni
PR Manager
Tel: +971 4 362 2432
shaima.alzarouni@difc.ae

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