The newest addition to international finance centres of the same caliber as London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore is the Dubai International Financial Exchange in Dubai. The financial exchange is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which since opening in the autumn of 2004 has attracted a wide range of the major multi-national corporations which are household names and global.

To date over 100 of the top 200 largest multinational organizations have expressed an interest in opening up operations in the DIFC, with Merrill Lynch International, ING Bank, HSBC, PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited, Federal Express International, Inc, Phillip Morris, Lloyds TSB, Barclays Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse with bases already signed up,  to name but a few.

The DIFX opened in September 2005 and is already a world class stock exchange.

The DIFC is a free zone of 110 acres catering primarily to the financial sectors namely Investment and corporate banking, capital markets, commodity trading, asset management, Insurance, Islamic finance, and a host of business operations and services.

The DIFC is a tax free zone allowing 100% freehold foreign ownership with no requirements to retain capital within Dubai, providing the full support services and infrastructure which are a pre-requisite for business providing a 24-hour a day financial network providing strict regulation and enforcement of anti-money laundering laws.

The location provides the highest quality environment with state-of-the-art technology, first class IT and telecommunications networks and excellent operational support services. The government of Dubai has committed to providing $1 billion to the development of the site, after which the DIFC will become self financing, with the bulk of income being generated by licencing fees.