Deutsche Bank AG announces the DIFC to become ops hub for African business
Deutsche Bank AG have announced plans to make Dubai its nerve centre for both its African and Middle Eastern operations, according to comments made by Middle East chief executive, Mr. Ashok Aram at the Bloomberg Future Cities Forum in Dubai yesterday.
The DIFC, whose clients include over twenty of world’s largest banks by share capital, has established a reputation as a dependable foot hold from which to conduct business in Africa with many other companies considering the Emirate of Dubai as the ‘hub’ for both regional and international business. Capitalising on its location, sitting in between the African and Asian markets, Dubai has become a major destination for re-exporting commodities such as tea, while free zones such as the DMCC have firmly placed Dubai on the map as a leading trader of precious metals and diamonds. The DIFC has been attracting international financial institutions through incentives such as tax exemption for 50 years
Aram, whose 18 year career with the German lender includes posts in Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, New York and London, was promoted to CEO (MENA) in September 2010, replacing Henry Azzam, who now serves as the bank’s non-executive Chairman for the MENA region.
Deutsche Bank AG, which has operations in Johannesburg was fined 10 million rand ($857,000) last month, by South Africa’s banking regulator for failure to comply with rules relating to the detection of assets linked to crimes such as terrorism.
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The DIFC has been attracting international financial institutions through incentives such as tax exemption for 50 years