(Corrects number of workers in paragraph 4; adds media
identifier)
By Hadeel Al Sayegh
DUBAI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Dubai International
Financial Centre (DIFC) has about 60 hedge fund firms, with
north of a trillion dollars in assets under management, waiting
to be licensed, the governor of the emirate's financial freezone
said on Monday.
The hedge fund industry is capitalising on new rules and
regulations that have been developed to support the sector,
which is one of the sources of DIFC's growth, Essa Kazim told
reporters in a news conference. "A few have already been
licensed," he added.
Millennium Management, ExodusPoint Capital Management and
BlueCrest established a presence in Dubai last year, just three
of the many funds attracted by lower licensing fees and capital
requirements for the industry.
The DIFC registered record breaking growth last year, with
the number of active companies in the Gulf's financial hub up by
a fifth year on year to 4,377, driven by fintech and innovation
firms, Kazim said. The number of people employed at the DIFC
rose 22% to 36,083 workers, he added.
(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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